Consequences
by LadyLorena
Summary: Sequel to Evolution. Loki and Brynja have settled into their lives in Asgard and are living happily as a family until figures from Loki's past arrive and he finally has to own his actions and deal with the consequences thereof. Torture, trigger warning for sexual abuse. Revised 5 March 2015.
1. Chapter 1

Brynja and Loki lived together quite nicely in Asgard, surpassing the number of years anyone Thor's betting pool thought they would last. Most people assumed that after twenty years or so, Loki would get bored, start trying to take things over again, and would end up imprisoned or dead, which, given his history, was not an entirely unreasonable assumption. Instead, he had turned out to be quite fond of a more domestic life, especially with the two children to raise. Sunny, with her emerging interest in magic, asked both her mother and her stepfather to teach her what they could. She learned quickly, asking them to let her begin working with Freyja on occasion. She improved on their spells and reinvented them, playing with magic and challenging both of her parents to keep up to her. Her aptitude impressed Loki, as she started to show an interest in shape-shifting and projecting herself into other rooms and spaces. Both of them knew she would surpass them in skill.

Loki had been incredibly anxious about taking on the role of father to the two young girls, his primary concern being that he would have a favourite child and dote on her far more than the other, creating resentment in the same way he still somewhat resented Odin. Brynja reassured him he could love both children equally and, in time, he discovered he did. He sparred with Katja, teaching her how to fight with daggers and a staff, teaching her the foundation skills she would need to enter training with the soldiers when she was old enough. Loki taught Sunny magic. The three of them grew close, Loki often finding himself reading stories to them in the evening, a child on either side, Brynja getting things ready for the next day before joining them. They did this even as young teenagers, making up for the lack of storytelling from their birth father.

On occasion, both Loki and Brynja played tricks on one another, much to the amusement of the girls. Even as Sunny and Katja grew up, they found the little pranks funny, laughing as Loki jumped back from the cooking fire in the garden as the kindling came to life and dodged the flame or as Brynja found all of her clothes hanging upside-down when she went to dress for an evening event. Sunny joined the mischief as soon as she learned how, often leaving little tricks waiting for her parents when she went off to study with Freyja, her favourites involving little black newts so like the ones she had seen in the creek in upstate New York.

Brynja's children sought out a relationship with their father only when they were older- Sunny, the more forgiving of the two, had approached him first, asking him in her early teen years if they might meet for tea to discuss some things that had always bothered her. He acquiesced to her request and hoped the conversation would not be too horribly awkward. It was worse than awkward, but he endured it, answering questions she shot at him like arrows, carefully thought out and phrased in ways so he could not be evasive. They talked about his treatment of her mother, of her sister, his views on the place of women, and his relationship with his current wife. She asked about his torture of Loki, something she had only recently found out the extend of, and his feelings about her mother having taken Loki to her heart and to her bed. There were no questions Sunny felt were off limits and Fandral did his best to be patient during what he thought was probably the most difficult interrogation he would ever endure.

Katja came to Fandral many years later. She had established herself well as one of Sif's protege and showed up at Fandral's door in her full armour, gleaming in the evening sunlight. She had sworn off marriage, wanting only to focus on her studies with Sif. She told him she did not want to speak to him if he still did not want a daughter who was a warrior. Fandral thought back to the years before and looked at his wild daughter, her eyes sharp like her mother's. He opened his arms and embraced her, apologising for his mistake, revealing that he had not valued her for who she was, but resented what he saw in her that reminded him of her mother and the traits that reminded him too much of Loki- her sharp and often insolent tongue, the deep way she felt and remembered every slight, and her ability to hold a grudge for years, carefully planning for the opportune moment for payback. Katja asked what he thought of her now, still the girl she was, but also so much more powerful in her skills as a fighter both with weapons and with words. Fandral finally told her he was proud of her. Katja considered that enough and asked no more questions.

By the time that Loki and Brynja had been together in Asgard for fifty years, Thor was spending more time in Midgard with Jane. She was nearing the end of her life and he wanted to be there for her passing. Loki and Brynja encouraged him every way they knew how to spend all the time he could with her, even intervening with Odin when he put too much pressure on Thor to focus on the throne. Thor came to Brynja for advice on burial customs and to talk about what Jane had requested for her funeral. He had never watched a lover die and knew Brynja had, so he took her aside and asked her to tell him about her beloved Midgardian girl who had died of a plague and to tell him how to cope with all the rites of burial that were so different in Midgard than what he was used to in Asgard. She told him about Sunflower and he cried on her shoulder for what he would lose. She showed him the gold ring she had worn now for nearly a century and asked if he and Jane had ever exchanged such tokens. Thor was inspired by the gesture and vowed to talk to Jane about it. When Thor returned to Asgard, he made it a point to show Brynja the gold band around his finger and to describe the thin ring with three small diamonds that he had given to his beloved.

When Jane died, Thor was distraught for weeks, but he finally had nothing that would stand between him and his rightful place on the throne. Odin began to once again pressure his son to step up to take leadership of Asgard. Brynja worried about Loki during this time. She watched him closely, and he did seem to fidget more often, losing his temper quickly and resorting to snide comments when Thor's ascension was mentioned, as though the old jealousy was coming back. She worried about what he was going to do as history essentially repeated itself.

Katja cornered him one day after witnessing a particularly vicious interaction between Loki and her mother which left Brynja having a difficult time hiding her sadness.

With arms crossed, she blocked his path and said, "We need to talk."

"Step aside, Katja."

"Nope. You're not dodging this. We're talking. Now."

He sighed, irritated but knowing that it would take longer to argue with her than it would to just listen to her, "Then talk, and be quick about it."

"You'd better knock this shit off and knock it off quick. I'm watching you. You're getting weird. You're acting sneaky and like you're planning something stupid. I don't know what you have up your sleeve, but I will not hesitate to kick your ass if I have to," she said.

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Every time somebody starts talking about Thor's coronation, you get twitchy and mean. You've got everybody on edge. Grandmother says she's seen this before and she's not showing it, but she's freaked out. You may have throne-envy, but that's no reason to treat Mother like shit, either. And you'd better start remembering what you do have or else you're going to push things too far and lose everything. You act like Thor's got the whole world right now, but you know what he doesn't have? His love. She's dead. And yes, he's getting a throne, but that seems like shit compensation to me. So which is more important to you? Which would you rather have? Because I've actually talked to Thor and if he could have made Jane one of us, he'd have done it in a heartbeat and given up the throne for good in exchange. If you don't start acting like the woman you love is more important than a goddamned chair, title, and stick of power, I'm going to shave those pretty locks off while you sleep, mister...and don't you think I wouldn't." The glare Katja gave Loki as she delivered her threat almost made Loki step back, partially in awe, partially in fear.

Loki briefly thought about brushing off her threat as mere posturing, but remembered that Katja had once threatened one of the stable boys that if he touched her a second time she would dislocate every finger he had. The stable boy had made the mistake of swatting her rear as she passed and she had stopped, taken a deep breath, turned, grabbed him by the throat, thrown him in the nearest empty horse stall, and proceeded to carry out her threat. While Brynja had been very upset with her daughter's problem solving method, it had caught Sif's attention as well as the attention of every other servant who had entertained the thought of possibly attempting to woo Katja and gained her the lack of male attention that she liked. He also knew better than to taunt her by asking just how she would manage to carry out her threat while he slept- if she phrased things just right, she would have no problem convincing Sunny to make sure he was sleeping very deeply before she began.

Katja knew he was thinking by the fact that he did not immediately answer, "So which is it? Is Mother the most important thing in your life, or is this egotistical quest to rule something? Can't you accept that her heart is the most important kingdom you will ever get the chance to hold in your hands?" Loki tried to think of something sarcastic to say and was, for once, at a loss for words.

Katja did not push him for an answer, but instead simply said, "I'll be watching," before turning abruptly and leaving him standing alone in the hall.

Loki wandered the palace aimlessly for a few hours, pondering. He returned to the rooms he shared with Brynja early that evening and, before saying a word, passionately kissed her.

After their lips parted, he held her close and whispered, "I'm so sorry." Brynja rested her head on his shoulder and hoped that he meant he was sorry for the morning's fight, not for something she either did not know about or he had yet to do.

A month before Thor's coronation, Brynja met with Freyja and after, came home to tell Loki that she was with child.

She stood in front of him, her hands tucked in the sleeves of the heavy cable-knit sweater she liked to wear on the chilly evenings of Asgard's autumn, "So...yeah. I'm pregnant. Freyja confirmed it."

Loki noticed her hesitation, "Are you not joyful for this?"

She sighed, "Let's just say it's been a long time and labour is a bitch."

He smiled, "While I cannot understand this the same way that you do, I have given birth to an eight legged horse and can somewhat sympathise with the unpleasantness of the physical changes that take place when a little being is growing inside."

She tried to smile as he stepped forward to gather her in an embrace, "Thanks, Loki. I'm excited, I guess, but I'm also nervous. Sunny was not an easy baby to deliver. Freyja says she almost lost me more than once. Its scary to think about doing it again."

Loki stroked her hair, "My love, I'll be by your side. I would not miss the birth of our child for anything in all the nine realms."

Brynja kissed his cheek, "I'd like to wait to tell anyone, though- at least until once we're past the biggest risk."

"Even the girls?" he asked.

"Even the girls," she answered.

Loki nuzzled her neck, his lips gently brushing her soft skin, "Oh love, it's beautiful that we have something that we don't have to share. Something just ours."

They kissed and cuddled the evening away, dreaming about how their lives would change with the birth of a baby. Loki was both excited and terrified, frightened that he would repeat the mistakes Odin made with him, especially if the child was a son. Brynja comforted him, stroked his hair, gently slipped her hands under his shirt and up his back. They spent the night intimately, quietly, allowing themselves to celebrate the growing child inside Brynja through loving touch.


	2. Chapter 2

Asgard celebrated Thor's coronation with a week of feasting. Brynja and Loki held off their announcement, but began to talk in secret about their own relationship and the possibility of marriage. It seemed as though something had been resolved in their life- one chapter of Loki's ambitions ended- and he felt more free to act independently, no longer always under someone's eye as a successor to the throne, the temptation finally out of reach.

Brynja kept out of the public eye as often as possible in order to keep her pregnancy secret. She saw Freyja to make sure everything was progressing normally, Loki eagerly sitting by her for every examination, asking Freyja to tell him what every touch meant and how the baby was growing. The day that he first noticed the swell of her abdomen as she lay beside him at night, he was absolutely enthralled, his fingers tracing the gentle bump, remembering the feel of Sleipnir moving inside him and marvelling that he had created that feeling in his own beloved.

As the child grew, Loki continued to be in awe of Brynja's body and the emotional strength she displayed as her body changed. His touch was light, gentle, and worshipful. Freyja watched the interactions that happened in her presence and was amazed at how involved Loki wanted to be in every aspect of the pregnancy and caring for Brynja.

Brynja was barely showing when she and Loki called Frigga, Odin, Thor, Katja, and Sunny to the library and told them the news. Frigga's hands flew to her face as she cried out in excitement. She threw her arms around both Loki and Brynja, kissing their cheeks and congratulating them while peppering them with questions about how Brynja was feeling and if they had thought of names for the child. Odin shook Loki's hand, congratulating him heartily, and hugged his daughter when he finally could get Frigga to release her. Thor clapped Loki on the back and asked if he wanted the news released to the realm yet. Loki shook his head, asking that they not let the word go beyond the family until it was obvious that Brynja was pregnant. Katja and Sunny both hugged their mother and tried not to squeak from their excitement. Frigga was so thrilled that she invited Brynja to immediately come with her to the royal tailor for maternity garments. Brynja declined, needing her rest, and Loki escorted her back to their chambers tucking her into bed and calling to a servant to bring them dinner.

While Brynja rested in the evenings, Loki and she dreamed about a wedding. Neither of them wanted the elaborate ceremony that they knew their family would want to give them. Brynja had a dress she hoped would fit, given to her by an old woman she had buried in Midgard in their 1970s. Loki wanted something simple as well, and both of them wanted Sunny and Katja involved in the ceremony. Neither of them, however, had set a date, and no formal proposal was made. They both understood that it would happen, they would have their wedding, but they liked not having to commit to a date or answer questions from family yet.

When Brynja went into labour, Loki sat by her side, brought her water, food, cool damp cloths to wipe her forehead and arms to hold when she wanted to hang on him. Though he had cut Sleipnir from himself without help, he knew that those contractions, once they began, were not something to trifle with. He called for servants to fetch Freyja and to bring more fruit and water to sustain Brynja. He cradled her when she needed to be cradled, he kissed her and brushed her hair from her face, gently comforting her and reassuring her when things were so intense she pleaded him to just rip the child from her. Freyja sat back and watched, making sure everything about the labour looked normal and let the couple work through the birth of their child together.

Freyja brought a labour stool for Brynja and helped her get on it, coaching Loki on how to catch the child as it emerged into the world. He wrapped the baby in a soft blanket while Freyja tended to Brynja. He was grinning ear to ear, tears in his eyes, as he met his child. Once Brynja was moved to the bed, he brought the baby to her.

Freyja sat with them as he handed the little bundle to Brynja and curled up next to her, "So, Loki, who is this little one?" Freyja asked.

"A little boy," he said, speaking through happy tears, "We have a son."

The tiny baby latched onto Brynja's breast and snuggled against her as he nursed for the first time. Exhausted, Brynja smiled as she looked down at the little one. Freyja patted Brynja's hand and quietly left the room, allowing the little family time to get to know one another. She took the news to Frigga, Odin, Thor, Sunny, and Katja, who were waiting in the library. She encouraged them to let Brynja rest and wait for the morning to visit and to make sure that they did not all arrive at once.

That night, Brynja and Loki looked on their little son with awe. Loki kept one arm around Brynja and let his other hand rest gently on the tiny bundle cuddled up to her. He kissed Brynja and his son on the forehead and poured his heart into every little motion of care for them. Brynja was asleep for much of the night, as was the little one, but Loki could not sleep, continually in awe of what had happened and how grateful he was to have been able to be a part of it. When he finally did feel weary, the sunlight was just coming over the horizon and he snuggled down close to his family, his heart full.

When both Loki and Brynja woke, he called for breakfast and they began to talk about what to name the little person in their care. Brynja liked Midgardian names, but Loki wanted something more traditional for his son. He kept calling the child a little gift.

Brynja asked him a question, "This is the first time you have held a child so new?"

"A child that looks like us, yes. I did hold a very little Sleipnir, but he was not a child I deeply wanted and I did not savour the moment as I should have. This is the first little one that I have fallen in love with in this way. A little blessing, the child I have been waiting for."

She looked down at the sleeping infant in her arms, "Amundr."

He tilted his head, "His name?"

She nodded, "It means bridal gift- something precious to be given to someone beloved. I think it fits." Brynja kissed Loki's cheek as he stroked the child's hair.

Loki tried out the name, "Is that who you are? Amundr?"

Brynja shifted as Loki curled up beside her, "I wonder whose eyes he'll have?" she asked.

"Well he certainly has my dark hair, but it curls, like yours," Loki replied, "I think he looks like you."

She laughed quietly, "And here I thought he looked like you."

There was a soft knock on the door and Loki got up to answer. Odin and Frigga had come to meet their first grandchild. Odin beamed at the little boy as Brynja gently shifted the child into Frigga's arms.

"What did you name him?" Odin asked.

"Amundr," Loki replied.

Odin gently took the child in his arms, "Amundr Lokison...may you be blessed with long life and great wisdom."

Loki was deep in thought as Frigga asked her daughter how she was feeling, "Like I've been hit by a truck, Mother. Loki's done a wonderful job making sure I stay resting."

"And you? How are you doing?"

"Still in shock that any force in the universe would let a child bear my name."

Odin carefully laid Amundr in Loki's arms and then placed a hand on his shoulder, "You have proven yourself a fine father for my granddaughters. You will do well with this little one as well."

Loki was quiet when he replied, "Thank you, Allfather."

As another knock came at the door and Odin went to answer it, Frigga said, "We won't keep you long. You all need your rest. Please ask if you need anything."

They left as Sunny and Katja came to meet their little brother.

Sunny sat down on the bed across from Loki, "Can I hold him?" she asked. Loki placed the child in her arms and she gazed lovingly at the sleeping child, "You, little one, are the most adorable child I think I've ever laid eyes on."

Katja plopped down beside her, "Yep. Cutest kid ever. Sorry, Sunny, you're place as most darling of us has been usurped by this little bundle." She looked to her mother, "Does he have a name yet?"

Brynja nodded, "Amundr."

Sunny offered the child to Katja, "Do you want to hold him?"

Katja shook her head, "No thanks, I think I'd drop him. I'll just look at him from over here for a while."

The girls talked to their little brother and largely ignored their parents for the better part of the hour. Brynja fell asleep as they spent time with the baby and Loki tucked the blankets up around her and rested next to her.

When the sisters were ready to leave, Sunny handed the baby back to Loki, "He's beautiful," she smiled at him, "And you'll be a great father to him. Don't worry, you can do this." She went to catch up to Katja before he could respond.

Loki held Amundr close to his heart as he settled against Brynja, "I hope I do right by you, little one."

After lunch, Brynja nursed Amundr and then went back to sleep, leaving Loki again cuddled with his son; there was a knock on the door and he answered to find Thor on the other side. He invited him in and they sat together at the foot of the bed while Brynja slept. Thor said little, asking only what the child was called. When Loki offered to let him hold Amundr, Thor accepted and cradled the tiny baby against his broad frame. Amundr yawned and briefly woke, quickly falling back asleep.

Thor smiled, "He looks so much like both of you did when you were babies. Brynja with her wispy curls, you with your head of dark hair. I held you more than her, as she is closer to my age, but still. I remember you both as children."

Loki nodded, "He will be much loved. His grandparents were quite taken by him this morning. His sisters, too, though Katja is afraid she'll break him if she holds him."

"And you? What do you think of this little person?" Thor asked.

"I love him deeply, am in awe of him, and do not know how I will ever raise him, though both Odin and Sunny seem to think I will be a fine father," Loki replied.

Thor examined his brother, watching his body language, his eyes, and listening for the tone of his voice, "Loki, you are the hardest person on yourself. You have always been convinced you couldn't be great, that you would never become anything because you were the thinker of the two of us, not the fighter. You never valued your own skills and instead compared yourself to others to whom you would never be like and called yourself a failure. Know this, Little Brother, you can raise this child. You can raise him well. And if he is a warrior and not a thinker, you can begin him on his journey to being a great one and support him as he seeks out other teachers. If he is a thinker and not a warrior, you can engage him in deep conversations and seek out others for him to converse with to broaden his horizons. You can make him feel valued no matter where his skills lay, whether in thought, in magic, or in shows of strength. And if this child is like you and shows Jotun traits, you will love him none the less and he will still feel a part of this family. We have all learned from what you have gone through. Father included."

Loki smiled, "Thank you, Thor."

Thor handed Amundr back to Loki, "Get some rest, Little Brother. You look very tired. There will always be time for visiting later."

After he left, Loki placed Amundr on the bed and went to the desk to write the child a letter. There were some things a father ought to tell his son, Loki thought, even if not until many years down the road.


	3. Chapter 3

Amundr was a year old when Loki began to once again think of marriage. They had been so focussed on only raising Amundr his first year that they had rarely stopped to talk about themselves, or each other. The little time they had spent only with one another had been spent cuddling to sleep tangled together, Amundr with his grandparents, both Loki and Brynja hoping the visit was long enough to finally feel rested when they woke.

Loki had read about some of the Midgardian customs pertaining to the wedding ceremony. Many he thought were silly, but he knew that rings were important and he knew from the little gold ring that Brynja still wore so many years after her Midgardian lover's death that they were important to her, too, at least sometimes. He also admitted to himself that he felt a twinge of jealousy that someone before him had left such an impression on her that she wanted a continual reminder of that person to grace her finger. He approached his mother about the subject, not mentioning marriage specifically, but asking if there was a ring in her collection that she would permit him to give Brynja as a token of his love for her. Frigga brought out a jewellry box full of glittering gems, gold, and silver, and handed him a few she said she would be honoured if he shared with her. He selected one and she offered him other jewellry as well, putting it in a small box of its own and insisting that he give the pieces to Brynja when the time was right.

A few evenings later, as the family gathered in the library just spend time together, Loki fiddled with the ring tucked in the pocket of his vest. He was nervous, hoping that he would do things right, a blend of Midgardian and Asgardian customs.

When it came his turn to talk about his week and to tell some sort of story, he took a deep breath and approached Brynja, lowering himself to one knee, "My love, I have come to you on my knees to beg for you to reshape me, to ask forgiveness, and to pray to you to accept my weaknesses. This time I ask for none of these things," he paused, nervous, as he pulled the ring from his pocket, "We have talked of marriage before, but this time I ask you formally, will you marry me?"

Brynja held out her hand, a broad smile on her face, "Yes, darling, I will." He slipped the ring on her finger and she bent down to kiss him.

Katja was the first to break the silence, "So, Loki, how has your week been?" she asked, grinning.

Loki laughed, his lips still pressed to Brynja's, before breaking away briefly, "Later, child, I'm kissing your mother."

Thor chuckled, his laughter escalating, "There will be much time for that later, Little Brother!" He began to clap, "A round of applause for Loki and Brynja!" As the others joined him, Loki blushed and Brynja moved over so he could sit beside her, Amundr toddling over to climb on their laps.

Katja called out over the applause, "It's about damn time!" with a wide grin on her face.

Of course, the rest of the family gathering was spent peppering them with questions about wedding plans and ideas. Frigga wanted to celebrate grandly, but Odin reminded her that Brynja had already had one huge wedding and might want something different. All eyes turned to the couple.

"We've talked before about a ceremony with just the family, something simple and quiet. I know it's important to you and to the realm to celebrate publicly, though, so I think we can come to an agreement on having a large reception and feast after the ceremony. I don't want this to look like my first wedding, though."

Loki squeezed her hand, "While Brynja has planned a wedding before, I have not. I do not want the entire realm as witness to my marriage- I hardly think they would want to be there anyway, so I would prefer it just be the family- those I know will love and embrace us. The feast...so long as there is time when I may have eyes only for my bride, I believe I can endure it."

Thor interjected, "Loki, I know you are not fond of our feasts and courtly matters. There will be enough questions about a private ceremony, but some traditions we must attempt to uphold. I will make certain you both have time to retreat to renew yourselves and find a little peace. You have my word."

"Thank you, Thor. Both of us would be quite grateful," he answered.

Frigga asked about the date, "When do you wish to have this ceremony? We took only a week to plan the last royal wedding, but this one does not have to be nearly so rushed."

Brynja shrugged, "We haven't talked about it. The last time we really dreamed of weddings was before Amundr was born. I'd like to wait until he can at least walk more steadily, though."

"A year's time would allow for that," Loki answered. And so they set the wedding date for one year hence.

Sunny, ever curious about the details, asked, "Are we going to have to dress very very formally, like at the coronation? Who gets invited?"

Loki answered the first question, "We will have to be somewhat formal, yes- Brynja has a dress she would like to have altered to fit that came from Midgard. I would like something made. Mostly black, possibly a light cape, but not so ostentatious as my ceremonial armour...and certainly no ceremonial helmet."

Brynja answered the second question, "For the ceremony, it will probably be just us here in the room- possibly Freyja, given how close we are to her. There will be a formal guest list drawn up for the feast that will include royals from allied realms, friends of the family, the court, and anyone else that Thor thinks would be slighted if not invited. Unfortunately, weddings are as much political events as they are celebrations when you're this close to the throne."

Katja piped up, "And hence why I'm not having one. How can you stand that? Oh yes, the celebration will be the family, our closest friends, and any strangers we have to invite so they don't decide to start a war. It sounds like inviting calamity, if you ask me."

Odin answered, "Fights rarely break out at wedding feasts, unless someone has a bit too much to drink. But anything serious is usually saved for the day after when everyone departs. It's quite remarkable, especially given the number of guests who arrive armed and how much drink is consumed."

Loki looked nervous as he wove his fingers with Brynja's, "Yes, I remember the coronation...it made me exceptionally nervous, given the number of individuals in multiple realms who would like to see me dead."

Sunny spoke, "I'll make sure there are protective spells in place, Loki. I'm sure Grandmother and Freyja will do the same. you will have three witches watching out for you. We aren't going to let anything get out of hand."

Loki smiled, a little reassured, but mostly just touched by the sweetness of Sunny's offer, "Thank you, my dear. I feel better already."

Brynja squeezed his hand, "Besides, it's not like I have a whole lot of exes who are going to be coming and trying to disturb the peace. I've got one- the rest of my ex-lovers are dead. Makes it kind of hard for them to come calling."

"Given that at least one of us in this room was actually dead at one point, I'm not sure that's entirely reassuring, love."

Thor puffed up his chest, "Worry not, Brother! We will make sure your wedding day is splendid and safe! I will personally see to it that nothing gets in the way of it being a joyous occasion."

Brynja kissed Loki's cheek, "We'll be all right, Loki. We don't have to make every decision tonight. We've got plenty of time to get things arranged."

Frigga interjected, "I'll work up a guest list so you don't have to- all you'll have to do is tell me if I've missed anyone or if there's anyone on there you don't want to invite."

"I will speak to the kitchens and have them work up a menu for the feast. You'll just have to approve it or tell us what it's missing," Odin offered.

Thor smiled, "And I will take care of the politics of the day- you will not have to."

Katja made her own offer, "And I'll talk with Sif to arrange security. Sunny's got the magic on hand, so we can work together."

Brynja nodded, "Thank you, all of you. I will work on finding arrangements of the Midgardian music I would like to hear for the musicians. There are a few that have been significant to us that I would like them to play. We'll discuss the finer points of the wedding later, though. It's getting late and I'm starting to feel very tired." They said their good nights and went back to their rooms, Amundr falling asleep in his father's arms as they walked. They laid him on a small cot near their bed and sat down together after undressing for bed.

"Did I do it right? Did I say the words the way I was supposed to?"

She kissed him, pulling him on top of her, "It was a beautiful proposal, Loki. Absolutely perfect."

His hair formed a curtain around their faces, brushing her cheeks; he rested his forehead against hers and whispered, "And the ring?"

She examined it on the hand resting on his shoulder, "Is gorgeous. Thank you." The ring was simple, by Asgard's standards. The silver and gold braided band was set with three stones, a diamond in the centre, two deep green emeralds on either side of it. Brynja admired it in the moonlight that filtered through his hair, "I still can't believe we're finally doing this. It's surreal, a dream I hope I don't wake up from. We have a son, we are getting married, our daughters are grown and strong. I remember wondering if I'd ever see you again when they were younger, hoping that I could undo the damage that their father was doing with the stories he told of your traitorous nature, stories I knew weren't true but he would not let me stop him from telling. I remember wishing in those years that I could run back to Jotunheim, but knowing that I had to uphold the bargain with Father. And I remember the night I thought was our last and the moments before the dawn that followed. I missed you intensely for the hours I thought you were dead. I remember thinking as I brought the girls home that every dream I had was suddenly gone...that somewhere in my heart I realised that over those years with Fandral, I always yearned for you to be in his place. I never thought I would get a second chance, and yet here we are."

Loki kissed Brynja as his reply, his arms around her, his hands gentle, almost worshipful. She ran her fingers through his hair and rested one hand on the back of his head, the other she rested on his chest. By the time they finally fell asleep, both were exhausted and slept deeply in one another's arms.


	4. Chapter 4

The year of wedding planning went very quickly. When Brynja and Loki visited the royal tailor mid-year to discuss Loki's clothing and to have Brynja's dress resized, she finally told the story of the gown and why it meant so much to her to wear it.

"Alice was a sweet older woman who lived across the hall from me in Midgard's 1970s. She was at least 80 years old, but she didn't even know just how old she was. She'd seen a lot of the worst of American treatment of people who looked different. I don't entirely understand everything of that country's history, but at one point the light-skinned people in America enslaved the dark-skinned people in America, bringing people in from other nations just for the purposes of enslaving them. They did horrible things to their slaves and kept them from learning while trying to make sure they didn't keep any of their own customs. Rape, torture, all of it was fair game, including working the slaves to death. That ended only a generation before Alice was born and people were still very unkind to one another only because of skin colour. So Alice saw people do terrible things based on that hatred. One of the things some of the light-skinned people did was to hang the dark-skinned people they thought were a threat to their way of life. They weren't, of course, but fear drives people to do awful things, including the fear of the people you've been taught to revile suddenly being successful or living nearby. So they hanged them as punishment, or beat them, or dragged them behind carts to kill them."

At this, Loki, who was being measured by the tailor, interjected, "How can Midgardians enslave one another in that way? They are of the same realm. I can understand that fear of those from other realms, especially if one has not met them, but from those of your own realm?"

Brynja continued her story, "Humans created reasons for this hatred, often based on their religious beliefs or a justification to take the land that these others lived on. They seem very petty, but if you look at our wars to conquer or subjugate other realms, we are not so different. Alice saw these lynchings. She was a woman of meagre means, but her daughter worked hard to reach dreams that she was often told she could not reach simply because of her skin colour. The daughter's name was Abigail. She was engaged to a young minister and they had plans to change their town, challenging the hatred they saw levelled against them. Alice's son stood with them. Alice was afraid for them, but she and her husband supported their children, knowing that if change was going to come, it had to start somewhere and it would not be safe. One night, Alice got word that there was trouble at Abigail's house. When she got there, the house was on fire and her children nowhere to be found. Alice rushed in and grabbed a few precious things- Abigail's wedding trunk, mostly, throwing into it the family photographs and books she could get to before the fire and smoke became too much for the small house. When she left out the back door, the neighbour told her that a mob had showed up and dragged Abigail out of the house, both her preacher betrothed and her brother in tow. Her husband had chased after them. The neighbour safely stowed the trunk and Alice went to find her family. When she caught up to them, Abigail, Alice's son, and Abigail's beloved were hanging from an oak tree. Alice's husband had been shot dead as he had tried to push through the crowd to get to them. Alice fled back to the safety of her friends. In the morning, she gathered the men of her church and they cut down the bodies and buried them in the churchyard along with her husband. This all happened in Midgard's 1920s. Alice kept the trunk with her through the fight for equality as she saw great leaders fall to this same hatred forty years later. When she died, she gave it to me. The round-topped trunk in my collection is hers- I took care of her in her last years and she told me that I was to wear that dress when I finally found my husband and to carry with me the memory of so many young loves it represented- to finally fulfil that dream for that dress. I buried her beside her family when she died and gave her papers and photographs to the church- they were collecting stories. I told them hers."

Loki sat down, the tailor finished with his measurements, "I see why the dress is so important to you. Do you plan on changing it at all for our wedding?"

Brynja walked over to where the dress was hanging and touched the beaded cream-coloured lace, "A little. I'd like it a bit more fitted at the waist, and I think it needs some colour with it. But I mostly want it to be something that was made with love by a mother for her daughter, something that is finally seeing the joy it was made for, and something that I love because of who I got it from and who I am wearing it for." She stripped off her outer clothing and donned the gown, the tailor turning his back, his face red, at her complete lack of modesty. Loki helped her slip the dress over her head and zipped the back. It did not quite fit her across the shoulders and would need to be expanded to fit her. The waist did need to be fitted a little better and the hem fell at a slightly awkward length. It had only little flutters of lace over the shoulders instead of sleeves. The tailor stepped forward to look at it, offering to add width to the ribcage by opening the sides and creating a lace-up back instead of the tiny pearl buttons that ought to have closed it. She looked at the dress in the mirror and agreed to have panels inserted in the sides only if they could be continued down the skirt, giving it a little more flair. She did not agree to changing the back, the little buttons one of the things she loved about the dress. She asked about adding length with lace and he agreed that would work. They sat down and sketched a few ideas on paper, Brynja pointing out what she loved and what she was willing to change. In the end, there were mint green panels to be added to the sides and skirt, the panel also added on both sides of the back seam, the buttons moved to still be the dress' closure, and about a foot worth of gathered lace added to the bottom to give it more length and, as Brynja described it, a little more swish. She also requested a long lace cape to fall from the shoulders, draped low to show at least part of the back.

"Bryn, love, I am going to be absolutely stunned when I see you in this. I may not have any words for you."

"Well I'm sure you're going to do the same to me, Loki. You clean up pretty damn well, darling."

Loki chuckled, the tailor blushed, not sure he wanted to know where this conversation was going. Brynja took Loki's hand as they left the shop. They were playful as they went to dinner, making mischief as they walked down the hallway, giggling as they heard the surprised reactions of a servant as the laundry she was carrying sprouted flowers, or when the young guard they passed found his spear suddenly a blooming branch. When they were in good moods, Loki and Brynja's tricks were mostly harmless and usually pretty. Snakes still appeared in strange places and there were odd birds flying the halls, filching things from people, but they usually kept the tricks played on servants and low-ranking guards kind. At dinner, water goblets danced just out of reach of their users, silverware melted or sprouted or vanished all together, and at least once the food on someone's plate rearranged itself to spell out a message.

Thor sighed and shook his head. Mealtimes often looked like this when Loki and Brynja were in good moods. Usually the tricks were harmless enough, but he had, at one point, had to tell them that if someone could not actually eat what was on their plate, the mischief had to stop. That had been the ground rule for quite some time now. There had only been one or two dinners during which Thor had put a stop to their little games because they either became too distracting or there were guests at the table that did not appreciate the informality of their family dinners.

Thor spoke, "Am I to assume you had a good discussion with the tailor today?"

Brynja nodded as Loki made her fork into a little silver serpent that circled her plate before returning to its rightful place, "Yes, we did. We're both quite excited to see what he creates for us."

Loki added, "And we've talked to the musicians. They are happy to learn a few of the songs we'd like to hear them play. It finally feels like this is coming together. We have a menu, we have a guest list, and we even have a rough idea of how the day will go. It's nerve-wracking, to say the least, but we are ahead of schedule."

Brynja poked Loki with the fork, "Don't forget that we have Freyja on board to watch Amundr during the wedding ceremony so the girls can stand with us and, more impressively, we've got Katja committed to wearing a dress for the reception. Of course, the dress looks a lot like her armour, but still, it's something different from her and she hasn't complained nearly as much as she did when she dressed for the coronation."

Katja shot her mother a glare, but she was still smiling, "I'm only holding back on the complaints for now. If the tailor puts anything frilly on it, all bets are off."

Sunny nudged her sister, "Oh, lighten up, Kat. It's Mother's wedding, you can handle a little frill and fluff. Besides, you're going to have to dance with someone at least once during the reception, you'd might as well not scare him completely."

Katja growled, "Don't remind me," and picked at her stew, "Why do we all have to dance at least once? I don't like people touching me."

Sunny giggled, "Oh? And what about Hogun's nephew? You seem quite fond of him and most certainly don't seem to mind him touching you."

Katja's glare could have withered stone, "How the hell do you know about him?"

Sunny shrugged with a little smile at the corners of her lips, "Oh, the sorceress sister has her ways."

This was the first Brynja had heard of her daughter's possible romance, "So...is he your boyfriend?" she asked.

"No!" Katja protested, "He's just a friend. Sunny's got some big ideas about what happen after training." Her lips curled into a wicked, lopsided grin, "Besides, witch girl, two can play that game. I've seen you with that girl in Freyja's guard. There's no question what's going on between you two."

Loki's eyebrows were just about as high as they could be raised, "Oh my!" he said, "Do I want to know what, exactly, that means?"

Sunny turned several shades of red before she smiled and quietly said, "No, no you don't. And it's not really any of your business, anyhow. I'm a grown woman and my romances are my own."

Brynja exchanged a look with Loki, "Well, just let us know if we should be planning a double wedding. Otherwise we'll stay out of it," she said.

Thor broke the tension the only way he knew how, "So, who's up for desert?"


	5. Chapter 5

The last month before the wedding, Loki had started to panic slightly about the very public appearance he was going to have to make for the reception. Thor's coronation had been so focussed on the outgoing king and his incoming protege that Loki had been able to fade mostly into the background. This time he would be the centre of attention from the procession after the ceremony through to the end of the celebration feast late that night. He had also seen the guest list. Of course, Sif, Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun would be present, but so would a contingent from Jotunheim and Vanaheim, as well as a few members of the court who had scattered to other realms through the years, such as his previous wife, Sigyn, and the two sons she bore him, children he had never made the attempt to know. He had started asking Heimdall about her long before the guest list was final, wanting to know if she would be coming alone or with a lover, hoping she would be otherwise occupied and he might not have to feel so guilty about his previous abandonment of the woman he had never really loved, but had lusted after greatly to the point of having her beloved killed in battle so that he could take his place in the marriage bed.

A week before the wedding, Loki stood next to Heimdall once again and asked him the same question he had asked at least once a month for nearly the past year after Brynja was sleeping, "Is Sigyn well?"

Heimdall nodded, "She is. She still walks in Midgard quietly, as though she has no aim but to live alongside its people, no ambition for bigger things or greater prospects."

Loki sighed, "She has not yet sought happiness in someone's company?"

Heimdall shook his head, "No, she has not. As I tell you every month, she tells others she is a widow and asks not to be disturbed. She will seek no other."

Loki hated asking the next question, and yet he did, every time, "And the boys?"

"Vali and Nari are well. She has told them only that they are of Asgard, as always, and still promises them they will some day see this place, though there is no reason to rush, as they are long-lived," Heimdall answered.

Loki was satisfied with the update and returned to the rooms he shared with his wife and son. He did not know how Brynja would react when she found out where he went during the night. He had never thought her the jealous type, but he had also never talked to her about his previous relationships in depth. He knew the day would come when he would have to. Sigyn had been invited to their wedding, now only a week away.

He knew Brynja understood that there were other women in his past and other children, those from Sigyn and those borne to Angrboda, but there was something quite different between her knowing they existed and him actually talking to her about the relationships. He was not looking forward to the discussion but knew he should probably have it before they were wed. Having other wives, or at least other lovers, and their children, show up at the wedding would only be more difficult if he had not fully disclosed the nature of the relationships to Brynja in advance.

Of course, there was also Sleipnir. The eight-legged horse of Odin, his son, and one he could not forget. He had no idea what Brynja knew of the nature of his children, their births, or their mothers (or, in the case of Sleipnir, his father). She had been shut up in the walls so young and he never knew if word of his exploits had reached her where she was kept or not. She knew much of the history of those within the palace, but he was always surprised by the gaps in her knowledge. There were conversations she did not overhear, feasts she was not invited to, and adventures he and Thor had gone on and not discussed plainly after.

As he returned to their bedroom, he noticed the light still on and wondered just what was going on. Brynja was never up late, her days often long, planning the wedding with Frigga and keeping track of their very high-energy son. Amundr was never very calm, a bundle of energy neither of his parents could completely keep up with, likely inherited from Loki, given the stories Frigga had started telling of Loki's childhood. The boy's wilful nature was a trait he shared with both his mother and father and both of them were sure they were going to be challenged by as he grew older.

He entered their chambers and found Brynja sitting up with a book while Amundr slept in the other room, just barely old enough to sleep apart from his parents.

Loki sat down beside her, "What keeps you up so late, love?"

She closed the book, "I was asleep, but Amundr woke me. He was crying. When I saw you weren't here, I got worried. You're never gone when I wake up at night."

He sighed, "Bryn, we need to talk."

She hated it when he said those words- it usually meant he was depressed, thinking of doing something terribly stupid, had angered his father or brother yet again, or was on the brink of death, "What happened this time?"

Loki shook his head, "Not anything new to me...but definitely to you. How much do you know about the lovers I took in the past?"

Brynja shrugged, "I know there was the horse incident, I've heard the jokes the boys told about that. And I'd heard about your trysts with Angrboda. Father didn't exactly keep secret what he felt about the kids you fathered with her. And then there's Sigyn. Your wife...because you were an ass and decided to kill her husband and pretend to be him in order to marry her."

"Well that's one way to put it...,"

"Did you lie to me when you told me I was the only woman you'd shared sleep with that you'd ever respected?"

"No. I made you a promise not to lie to you. It's fairly obvious that I did not respect Sigyn given what I did to her and the times I left her, as well as my asking Odin to release me from her as I had no heart for her."

"So what does this have to do with you being gone tonight?"

Loki took her hand and prepared himself for a possible explosion of anger, "I've been checking on Sigyn. She's on Midgard and we have two very-much-grown sons. Odin has insisted that as citizens of Asgard, they are to be invited to the wedding. I have been leaving your bed for a year to check on her, once a month, to make sure she is well, hoping she had taken a lover and would not cause trouble for us. Heimdall says she simply lives among them, without ambition or aim. I worry about her and what she might do if she returns here. Her children have never seen this place. And so I watch her, aware that her listlessness is, at least in part, my doing. I regret that I led her, such a sweet and loyal young woman and promising witch, to this."

Brynja stared at the floor, not meeting his gaze, "So what does this mean? Are we calling off the wedding?"

"No, of course not, Brynja. I want you to be my wife, no matter what women have been in my life in the past," he lifted her chin gently, "When I asked you to be my wife, I did not think that the others could ever come between us. If you cannot go through with the wedding because of my past lovers and children, or because I have come to regret what my actions have done to Sigyn, I will accept your decision, but I do not want to lose you, Brynja. I will do whatever I can to make this right."

There were tears in her eyes, "Loki, you've been leaving my side every month to watch your ex-wife. I'm not sure what that means. Do you still love her?"

Loki embraced her, "I never did, Bryn. I never wanted her as anything but a beauty to possess."

"And what about Angrboda, did you love her?" she asked.

"No. I enjoyed the challenge of her, I enjoyed the magic she could use and the way we could twist one another. There was no love. Intense lust, oh yes, but no love."

Brynja sighed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve, "So what do we do now?"

Loki kissed her cheek, "I suppose we prepare for the possibility of a very odd wedding feast wherein we will celebrate with the wife I abandoned on earth, her sons, and quite possibly a Jotun giantess who is also a very powerful witch. It could get quite awkward."

"What about your other children? Don't you think they might be there?"

"No. I somehow doubt that Odin will let Fenrir up from the rock he's tied to, nor do I think Jormungandr will likely leave Midgard, given that his ceasing to circle it is a portent of Ragnarok. Hela, however, will likely attend. I believe Odin has invited her, not out of any familial love, but because she is a powerful ruler in her own right and he knows enough not to slight her. Of course, Sleipnir will be a part of the procession through the city between the ceremony and feast, but not as a member of the family. Odin will do things the way Odin feels right, and inviting my children as though they were intelligent beings to the feast is not something he would consider."

Brynja put her arms around his waist and rested her head on his chest, "I'm sorry, Loki, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions. I'm tired, this wedding thing is stressing me out. The ladies of the court have started a rumour that I'm dressing as a servant for my wedding because the dress is Midgardian, something they scoff at. I'm wondering just how I'm supposed to greet my ex-husband in the receiving line, and now I have to also deal with the fact that you're probably going to have exes and abandoned children there, too, and it's one more thing to worry about. I'm just glad all the rest of my former lovers are dead or this could be really awkward."

Loki stroked her hair, "My love, we will work through this together. I wanted to make sure you knew this before the wedding, before they arrived and you were shocked by their presence. You will greet Fandral and his wife with grace, as you have for the past many years. It is I who should be worried about my decorum. There are many years between Sigyn and I and I do not know if she has let my actions simmer into resentment or if she will even attend at all. I thought we needed to talk about this, though."

"Can you just not watch her again? At least not in secret? I mean, if there's something crazy going on that Heimdall tells you that you have to see, sure, but this sneaky stuff hurts."

"I'm sorry. I should have told you from the beginning. Trust is not something to take lightly. I will not go to Heimdall again unless you know about it."

Brynja cuddled against him, "Thank you. I don't want to feel like I can't trust you. And it's been so long that you've kept your promise."

"I finally broke it, didn't I? No lies, no trickery, no deception. I have deceived you through the sin of omission."

"Yes. I forgive you, though," she said, "You were only trying to make sure things were going to be OK for our wedding."

"That doesn't make it right, Bryn."

"No, it doesn't, but it's forgivable. Now if you'd have told me you were watching her shower every month just for shits and giggles, that would be a whole different story."

Loki smiled, "I'm glad to see our conversation hasn't dampened your sense of humour, my love."

Brynja kissed his chin, "Nope. Now let's get some sleep. We've got final fittings for our wedding clothes tomorrow and, if I'm not mistaken, yours is ridiculously early in the morning." Loki lifted her off the bed and turned down the covers, picking her up once again to slide her between the sheets where he joined her moments later. They curled up together and Loki dozed off quickly. Brynja, however, could not shake the feeling that there was something about Sigyn that wasn't going to end well and quite possibly was going to put Loki and she's relationship to the test.


	6. Chapter 6

The day of Loki and Brynja's wedding came quickly, the last week of preparations flying by. The morning of the ceremony, the tailor brought Loki and Brynja's clothing to their chambers and muttered something about the impropriety of the bride and groom seeing each other before the ceremony in their wedding clothes. They ignored him and waited for him to leave before beginning their preparations. They started by taking a long bath together, relaxing in one another's arms in the warm water, both of them nervous and yet excited for the day. Loki combed out Brynja's hair, once again cut short. He had practised doing her hair a few times before, but his hands shook as he placed the jewelled pins in it and he had to redo the little twists a few times. After he finished, he brought her two hand mirrors and she checked it, happy with the results. She then turned him around and brushed through his long dark hair. He hadn't severely cut it in years and it hung down below his shoulder blades. She ran her fingers through it as she brushed it, smoothing down the wisps that clung to the brush.

"Do you remember the first time I brushed your hair?"

"The night before I was to die. Of course I remember."

"I still love brushing it, running my fingers through it and letting my hand rest against the warmth of your back. It's a beautifully intimate act."

Loki smiled as she made two small braids from the hair that framed his face, weaving silver strands in the plaits, and pulled them back, tying them together with a thin green thread, "I am glad something so simple brings you such great joy."

They sat together for a moment on the edge of the bed, naked, the warmth of the sun on their faces, "So I suppose we should get dressed," Brynja said.

"It would not be wise to be late to our own wedding."

"Nor do I think the family would appreciate us showing up naked," she added with a grin. Loki blushed at the thought.

She went to get his clothing and laid it out on the bed and then fetched her gown and the undergarments that went with it. They helped one another dress, she tugging his black shirt over his head, he smoothing her slip over her hips. She tying the straps to close his doublet-style vest, he fastening the tiny pearl buttons down her back. Loki's black garments were stunning, the detailed knot work embroidery in black thread on the doublet utterly striking, a dark green velvet cape fastened on with round silver broaches just below the front of his shoulders, the fine silk of his shirt reflecting a soft shimmer in the morning light. Her dress was equally beautiful, the soft cream lace of her cloak perfectly matched to that which was original, the mint green panels expertly added and matched to the line of the dress, the glass beads on the bodice now matched to bead work on the cap sleeves and along the added lace hem of the dress. They stared at each other for a few minutes before Brynja took Loki's face in her hands and kissed him. He placed his hands on her hips and the slow kiss continued until someone knocked on the door to remind them that they had ten minutes before they were scheduled to be in the throne room.

Brynja slipped on her shoes while Loki went to the dresser and brought out the jewellry box Frigga had given him, "Bryn? Would you come here a moment?" She did as he asked and he presented her with the box, "My gift to you, love, on the day of our wedding."

She took the box and opened it, the jewels glittering in the morning light, "Oh my...these are beautiful."

"Asgard's princess ought perhaps wear some of Asgard's gems to her wedding."

She picked up a silver necklace set with diamonds and emeralds that clung close to her neck and a pair pearl drop earrings with emeralds at the stud. While he put his shoes on, she replaced the simple silver hoops she had been wearing with the new earrings and then asked Loki to help with the necklace. He carefully draped it around her neck.

"Brynja my darling, there is no one in all of Asgard who can match your radiance," he stated, offering her his arm.

Brynja blushed as they left their room and met Sunny and Katja in the hall, "You're damn fine yourself, Loki," she replied.

The girls escorted them to the throne room; Katja saying as they walked, "Neither of you clean up too shabby!" with a wide grin on her face.

Sunny was beaming, her flowing gown of red, orange, and gold making her appear to be surrounded by fire, "You're both beautiful, absolutely beautiful. I am so happy for you, Mother, Loki."

The doors to the throne room were opened for them and the four met with Odin, Frigga, Freyja, and Amundr, to walk toward Thor, who stood at the foot of the throne. Odin and Frigga stepped to one side, while the children and Freyja stepped to the other. Thor beamed with pride as Loki and Brynja approached, their fingers intertwined, stealing glances every chance they could.

"Welcome, Loki and Brynja, on this your wedding day!" he thundered joyfully. He continued, his voice a little softer, "Together you have built this love, patiently drawing one another out and waiting many years to be together. At long last, your road leads you here, to this marriage. May you have many more years together!" He paused as Sunny and Katja brought a small table from the side of the room and placed it in front of Loki and Brynja, "This ceremony is not long, but it is important. First, I ask that each of you make a vow to the other to uphold your love in years to come. After, you will engage in the wine ceremony, an ancient tradition representing two people sharing one love. Then you shall receive blessings from the family before I pronounce you husband and wife. Loki, will you begin the vows?"

Loki nodded and he turned to face Brynja; his hands were trembling as he took both of her hands in his and looked her in the eyes, "My dearest Brynja, my beloved. I vow to hold you in the most sacred place in my heart, to carry your love with me wherever I may go, and to remain steadfast in my faithfulness to you until my days end...whether that happens at the end of a long life or, given my nature, I bring some ill fate upon myself. I vow to you that I will do my best to bring you honour with my actions, to cherish every moment, taking none for granted, and to always remember that we are playful people, embracing the spirit and mischief in our lives. I give you these promises in addition to the one I made so long ago and have tried so desperately to uphold- no lies, no trickery, and no deception. You will always know the truth of me, for better or worse."

Thor turned to Brynja and nodded; she began, "Loki, I have wandered a very different path than you to get to this point. My road has led me to many different places and to many different lives. These journeys have prepared me for the challenges we have faced together and allowed me to see you clearly. I have found love in what I have seen. I vow that I will continue to seek the best of you, even in your dark days, and will embrace even your most difficult trials as a part of you that will always need my love. I vow to remain steadfast and true, even when I feel that you are a difficult person, because I know that I, too, an difficult to live with. I vow to stay by your side in the best and worst of times, no matter how those times come to us- as I once told you, I am incredibly loyal and fiercely protective and that has not changed over the years. I vow to be open with you about my life, past and present, so that you may know how best to help me when I need to. And yes, I will always be here to play, to love, to dance, and to leave magic in our wake as we go through this life together with our family beside us."

Thor gestured to the small table set with two full wine glasses and a crystal bowl, "These glasses represent each of you. Drink, each of you, half of the wine in the glass. This is who you are on your own. Pour the remaining wine into the bowl. This represents who you are together, one love, inseparable." They did as he asked and he continued the ceremony, "Now give one another a drink before each drinking on your own- this is how love is- we fulfil the needs of one another and when we do, we also fill our own spirits." Loki carefully lifted the bowl to Brynja's lips and slowly tipped it so she could drink. He handed her the bowl and she did the same to him, concentrating on keeping her hands steady as she brought the bowl to his lips. She handed the bowl back and he drank on his own before passing the bowl to her so she could do the same. Thor nodded, "Blessed are the lovers who take the time to help one another drink, for neither shall go thirsty."

Katja and Sunny took the table away and Thor waited patiently for them to return to their places, "Blessings do not only come from whatever benevolent forces may act on us from outside the universe, but also from one another. Lady Frigga, would you begin?"

Frigga stepped forward, "My dear children, you have both grown so much since your childhoods. I once feared for you both, believing that it was possible that you would both become so lost that you would not be able to return home or to find something out there that you could anchor yourselves to. I am so grateful that you have found one another. I bestow upon you the blessings of both myself and of Odin Allfather. May you continue to find all you seek in one another's arms."

Sunny stepped forward, "Mother. Loki. Katja and I have been so grateful that our family changed for the better so many years ago. While we have, as adults, both come to understand and appreciate our father, he was not who we needed at that time in our lives. When we travelled to Jotunheim for the first time, neither of us knew what to expect. We had heard stories from our father and his friends. We had heard little whispers from you, Mother, as you tucked us in, obviously trying to repair the damage you heard those stories causing, countering fear with what you yourself had lived. We did not truly understand what you were talking about until you read a very special letter out-loud to us on the evening of Katja's birthday. I will never forget the look on your face as it dawned on you that there were ten years of letters missing, ten years of the care we heard in those written words that you had missed. Your frantic dash to Father's study confirmed what I suspected as you read the letter- there was more to your little defences of Loki and the Jotun people than we knew, so much more that we had never been allowed to know. We saw it clearly when we watched you both in the antechamber in Jotunheim, reunited for the first time in a decade, holding one another, crying on each others' shoulders, and talking as old friends, as though no time had passed. And then you played. And you danced. Oh, how I remember dancing. I remember most of all, though, that you, Mother, looked past the outer appearance of a person we had been taught to fear, who looked like an entire race we had heard called monsters our entire lives, and gazed on that face with love. And you, Loki, looked back at Mother as though you would have kissed her there while dancing, swept her off her feet and carried her to your chambers, had she not had two children in her wake, nor been married already. That love was real. Is real. And I have been blessed to see it nearly every day since, to know what it is when love is deep and intense, able to survive even the belief that the other is dead. May that love continue to burn brightly in you, showing the rest of us what it means to embrace and forgive, and also showing us what it looks like when that love is shared with your children. Thank you, and may Amundr some day also be able to stand up and say that he has seen what a life-long love looks like. Katja and I both pray that you both may share that passion as long as you live."

Thor then spoke, "You have both been children in my arms. I have watched you both grow up and grow away from this place, yet you both still found one another. No matter where your lives take you, may you always find your way home to one another. May your family always stand beside you and encourage that love to grow and flourish, and may your lives be long so that you have many years to explore this great love."

Thor then addressed the few assembled, "Is there anyone here who has good reason these two ought not wed?" No one spoke, "Good! Then Loki, Brynja, as king of this realm, I bind you to one another as husband and wife. Please share a kiss."

Loki wrapped one arm around Brynja's waist and rested the other on her neck, "Gladly." He kissed her tenderly, slowly, and sweetly, Brynja returning the kiss in kind. Once they were finished, they turned from Thor and towards their other assembled family.

Brynja was beaming when she said, "We did it!"

The formality of the mood broke and everyone came forward to hug and congratulate the couple, Amundr begging his father to be carried. Loki propped him up on his hip and the child enjoyed the attention as much as his parents did. The family retreated for a light lunch before the procession that would take them from the palace and along the parade loop in the city centre, allowing the citizens of Asgard to see the royal family as they rode on horseback around the loop. As with the coronation, they were showered with flowers, Thor in front, his parents behind, Loki and Brynja with Amundr in a place of honour in Freyja's cat-driven chariot, rather than on horseback. Sunny and Katja followed behind, the royal guard bringing up the rear. After all that, it was finally time for the feast.


	7. Chapter 7

Brynja and Loki retreated to an antechamber off the banquet hall while guests from around the realms arrived, greeted by Thor, announced by his servants. There were delegations from nearly every realm represented.

Loki sat on the end of a love seat, Brynja's head resting in his lap as he stroked her hair and she rested, her feet draped over the arm of the seat, "Well, Bryn, we made it through the easy part."

Brynja laughed, "We got through the important part- we're married, Loki. No one here can change that."

"Of course, Bryn. This is supposed to be the celebration with our friends...but there are so many people here I don't even know."

"I can live with that. I'd rather it be small, a dinner with the family, some music and dancing with friends, and the like, but if this is what we have, we might as well enjoy it. Think of it this way, we get to show off our mad dancing skills to all the realms- no one will doubt our awesomeness on the dance floor after tonight!"

"When you're right, you're right. You'd best sit up, though, they're going to want us to process in soon."

She made a face, "Ugh, I remember this bit from last time. We parade in and circle the room, you showing off your prize, me waving like an idiot, as you make sure everyone gets a close look at the gem on your arm."

"So why don't we do something different?"

"Because this is _expected_\- as in, everyone looks forward to being able to get a close look at us. I heard the comments before- so many of the guests talk about this as though it is the highlight of the night."

Loki thought for a moment, "And the music?"

"At least that I got to choose- Midgardian song about a broken person building a mystery- of course, no lyrics, but I figured there was some cussing in it that wouldn't be appreciated anyway. It's a pretty song, though."

"And we're not supposed to dance together until the official first dance, correct?"

"Yep."

Loki sighed, "Well at least there will be something different for the guests to listen to- I think every wedding feast I've been to has had the same processional music."

"Yeah, same here. Gets really boring after a while. At least this one I can hum to as we walk and not feel like my head is going to explode."

There was a knock on the door and the attendant stepped in, "M'lady, m'lord, please follow me. We are nearing the time of your entrance."

Brynja sat up and after Loki stood, he offered her his hand, "Love?"

She accepted and rose noticing a slight trembling in his hand, "You're not too fond of facing the crowd yourself."

"Not at all. I always feel like someone is going to try to kill me when I'm in a large crowd- the larger the group, the greater the likelihood that someone there feels I deserve it."

They reached the door they were to make their entrance through and the attendant positioned them, "Remember, the lady is on the outside, walk slowly so they can all see you, and smile." The doors opened from the inside and he gently nudged them forward as the song began to play. Loki and Brynja did as instructed, her arm looped through his. She occasionally turned to him and whispered something or kissed his cheek to coax his smile along when she felt the trembling in his hand grow stronger. She winked and waved at her daughters and blew a kiss to Amundr, who began to squirm in Freyja's arms the minute he saw his mother close by. Loki hesitated as his son cried out for them. Brynja stopped and gestured for Freyja to bring him closer.

He reached for Loki, "Fadir, UP!"

Loki laughed softly and took his son in his arms; Amundr clung to his neck and refused to let go, so Loki shifted him to one side and offered his arm to Brynja, "We did both wish for this to be something different," he whispered to her, smiling as they continued their procession.

Brynja did not speak a reply, but she met his eyes, kissed his cheek, and happily continued around the room.

After the procession, Thor declared the feast open and the doors to the adjoining dining hall were pulled back to reveal huge tables set with hundreds of steaming dishes, the head table elevated and set with places for Odin, Frigga, Thor, Sunny, Katja, Amundr, Loki, and Brynja. After many toasts to the fortune and happiness of the bride and groom, a few of them bordering on raunchy, everyone tucked into the meal set before them. Even Loki lost his nervousness long enough to enjoy the feast.

Once dinner was finished, the guests mingled and greeted one another, many lining up to speak to Loki and Brynja.

The contingency from Jotunheim approached, other guests clearing the way, some afraid, some fascinated by the very tall guests; Bel spoke first, "Loki, Brynja, I am honoured we were asked to join you tonight. I have often asked your king for news of you after your departure from Jotunheim and have always been pleased to hear how well you and your children were faring."

Brynja bowed briefly to Bel, "And we are honoured you were able to attend. You have done so much for us."

Loki added, "You did not know it at the time, but the grace you granted me at my defeat led to my confession of love to Brynja. While that night was very difficult for the both of us, it also made some things crystal clear."

Bel nodded, "I am glad something good came of it."

There was a moment's pause before Brynja asked, "Is it proper for me to ask you to introduce us to those who have travelled with you?"

"Of course. On this side is my dear friend Angrboda. On this other side is a woman who has been waiting many years to visit this hall- Farbuti, Loki's birth mother."

Brynja greeted Angrboda first while Loki stood in front of his mother, "I am grateful we are finally able to meet. I was hoping to do so when I was in Jotunheim, but never knew how to ask about you."

Farbuti smiled, "It was not the time. This is. I asked to travel with our king so that I might wish you a blessed future and meet your wife. She seems quite kind."

"She has been my saving grace time and time again."

"I won't keep you long. I am glad to see you well."

Brynja, meanwhile had made polite conversation with Angrboda. As Bel excused himself to introduce Farbuti to Thor, Angrboda acknowledged Loki.

He greeted her, "How has life treated you all these many years?"

"Well, Loki. Well. I am happy to see Hela here. Have you had the chance to speak with her yet?"

"No, I haven't. We have had so little time yet for conversation and there are so many faces here. I also do not know if she would wish to speak to me."

"I will ask her- I intend to seek her out next. If she does, I will nudge her in your direction."

"Thank you. I do not know if she is here out of obligation as a representative of her realm or out of familial care. I do not want to overstep my bounds if it would upset her too much."

Angrboda nodded and brushed his hand, the blue tinge briefly colouring his arm, "You seem to be a caring father, Loki. I envy your wife, but only a little. I am too fickle to be a constant lover."

Loki took Brynja's hand, "You and I learned much from one another. Brynja taught me something new, though- every experience we have had leads us to where we are. In my case, I am exactly where I need to be."

"And I agree. You are. As am I." She paused, "Did you notice that Sigyn is here?"

He sighed, "Yes. And her sons."

"I will listen closely- she seems odd. Something is not right with that girl."

Loki thanked her and she gracefully excused herself from the conversation. Not long after, someone called for the dancing to begin and Loki escorted Brynja to the centre of the dance floor, waiting for the song to play. Loki recognised it as it began and Brynja began to softly sing it to him- the song about the broken road. He kissed her as they dance, their faces kept close, their eyes only for one another. When the song ended, he kissed her once more and then they were joined by other couples for other dances that were traditional or well known.

Thor danced with Brynja for a song, before Fandral cut in, "You don't mind, Brynja, do you?"

She shook her head, "So long as you know where to keep your hands."

He laughed, "Always so blunt. One of the things that I value you most for as a friend, yet that infuriated me as a lover. We truly have come a long way."

Brynja smiled at him, "That we have. I never thought I could forgive you for what you did to Loki."

"I understand. And I know that it took you many years and I had to change considerably. But know that I have changed. If given the same command, things would not be done as they were then."

They talked as they danced, both of them happy to have reached a place where they could be friends, their failed marriage in the past. Loki, meanwhile, was dancing with Sigyn and hoping to be rescued. He was polite, yes, but she was not and her conversation often bordered on the inappropriate, something that was so unlike the girl he had known centuries before. He was glad when Hela cut in, but at the same time, apprehensive.

"Hello, Loki."

"Hello, Hela. Has your realm been treating you well?"

She nodded, "Oh yes. My halls are quiet and I like the solitude the realm affords me. I may still be awkward and odd, but at least the few there I have for company are kind."

"That's good. Did you have a moment to talk to your mother?"

"Of course. We write letters sometimes as well. May I write to you?"

"Of course, I'd love to get to know you better."

Hela was happy, her smile broad, even though it seemed distant- she always looked, though, as if she was only partly present, her mind in a far away place.

The rest of the evening was mostly pleasant. Loki and Brynja escaped only a few times to the antechamber for moments alone, both knowing that if they stayed too long they would either be carried away with their kisses or they would fall asleep on the love seat. Nari and Vali, so unlike their mother, were lively and sought out Loki and his family, excited to finally meet the names in the stories they had been told as children. They did not seem to hold any resentment for Loki, were fascinated by Angrboda, Bel, and Farbuti, and both insisted on dancing with Hela, making her laugh and encouraging her to write to them while they were in Asgard. They did their best to learn the customs of their hosts, trying to bow to the right people and address everyone with their appropriate titles. They both danced with Katja and Sunny and by the end of the feast, had convinced the sisters to visit them while they were in the realm, eager to get to know their family.

When the feast ended and as guests filtered out, Thor approached Loki and Brynja, both visibly tired, "You two need your rest. Go, sleep. Mother is taking care of Amundr for the night."

They both thanked him and retired to their chambers. Loki's fingers fumbled with the little buttons on Brynja's dress and she struggled with the straps to his doublet. They were laughing by the time they fell into bed, but found the energy for kisses and caresses, falling asleep tangled together under the blanket, bathed in the moonlight.


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning, Loki and Brynja woke late, had breakfast for lunch, and celebrated quietly with their family in the gardens. After a week, they felt as though their lives had settled back into something comfortable, though Loki and Brynja were often caught acting like new lovers, kissing in secluded passages, giggling when they were found, and generally being so sweet that Katja rolled her eyes at them at least once a day.

This peace did not last very long, though. Loki woke up in the middle of the night sensing that something wasn't quite right. He turned over to find Sigyn sitting on the edge of his bed, Amundr asleep in her arms. Startled, he sat up quickly and scuttled away from her.

"Please, give me my son," Loki whispered, pleading.

"No, actually, I think I'll keep him. And your wife. You_ did_ wonder where she went, didn't you?" Sigyn replied.

Loki kept his eyes on the child, "Yes, I did. But she is grown and powerful in her own right. He is so small and cannot fight you. Don't hurt him."

She stood up and stepped towards the door, "Oh, I wasn't planning on hurting him, just taking him to his mother."

Loki began to panic as Sigyn reached the door, "Where are you taking him?" He stood and began to follow her, but she dashed for the door and left.

Loki ran into the hallway, not caring that he was naked, and looked frantically in both directions. He saw neither Sigyn or Amundr. He grabbed his silk robe from the back of the door and ran down the hall calling for the guards.

One of the night watchmen heard him and hurried to him, "What is the matter, sir?"

"Brynja and Amundr have been taken," he said, his voice panicked.

"That's impossible, sir. We watch these halls very closely at night."

Loki yelled at the guard,"Sigyn was in my chamber, holding my son, and disappeared with him when she got to the hall! I watched her take him!"

"Calm down, sir. We'll search the halls, as you wish. I don't see how she'd have done it, though."

Loki strode away, headed for Thor's chambers, calling back as he did, "She's a witch, she can do whatever she wants." As soon as he was sure the guard was out of sight, he took off running. When he arrived at Thor's door, he pounded on it as hard as he could, calling his brother's name as he did.

Thor opened the door, bleary-eyes, but worried by the fear he heard in Loki's voice, "Little Brother, why do you come to me in the middle of the night? What is so urgent it could not wait for morning?"

The full impact of what had happened had hit Loki and he felt his knees going weak as he spoke, "She's taken them. Sigyn's taken them," he said, frantic.

Thor caught him as he sank to the floor, "Come, let's get you to a chair. Then you can tell me what happened." Loki leaned heavily on Thor as he was escorted to an overstuffed armchair. Thor handed Loki a glass of water, "Take a drink. It will help. Then tell me what happened." Thor sat down across from Loki and waited for him to talk.

"I woke up and Sigyn was in the room. Bryn was gone. Sigyn had Amundr. She said she was taking him to his mother. She vanished when she got to the hallway. I don't know where they went. I called the guard, but it's useless. If she can vanish like that, they won't find her," Loki said, his voice quiet and hopeless, "Thor, she took my son. She's taken my wife. I don't know what she's going to do to them."

Thor stood and placed a hand on Loki's shoulder, "We will find them, Loki. I will do everything I can to find them, every soldier I can spare will be searching the realm for them."

There were tears in Loki's eyes, "But what if we don't get to them in time? What if Sigyn does something terrible to them in order to hurt me?"

"Do not think that way, we will find them and they will be safe."

"But what if-"

"No. You aren't asking that question. You're going to get some rest so you can be ready to use your magic in the morning to search for them. I will go ready the guard and they will begin searching every building we can search during the night."

"I can't go back to that empty bed, Thor," Loki whispered, "Sigyn stole its safety..."

"Then stay here. You can either sleep on the couch or sleep in my bed as you did when you were a child. I will keep you safe, Loki. I may not be a sorcerer like you are, like Sigyn is, like Brynja is, but these rooms are protected by spells and she cannot find you here. Let us just say that it is good to be the king." Thor rose and went to dress so he could meet with his captains. Once dressed, he returned, Loki still sitting in the same chair, the glass of water still clutched in his hands, "Sleep, Little Brother. You will need all your strength to search for them come morning." With that, he left.

Loki sat perfectly still, thinking of all the horrible things that Sigyn could do to his family, hoping that none of them would come true. He set the glass on the side table and went to Thor's bedroom, remembering all the times a nightmare had driven him to share the large bed that Thor still slept in. He climbed in it and tugged the blankets up to his chin and finally let his guard completely down, sobbing into the pillow.

He was asleep when Thor returned from meeting with the guard, his hair damp from where his tears had plastered it to his cheeks. Thor changed into a robe, knowing Loki would probably feel somewhat awkward if he woke up to find him naked, and slid under the blankets beside him. At first, he lay with his back turned to Loki, but then his protective nature and all the memories from childhood tugged enough at his heart that he turned around, gently brushed back Loki's hair from his face, and put an arm around Loki's slender body, carefully taking the hand Loki held close to his chest. He had held Loki this way many times in the past. When he had been so very young and the attention he had shown Sif had been ill received, resulting in him being shoved into a wall and told that he was far too weak for her to ever consider. When he had been beaten by several of the older boys when his magic had inadvertently interrupted a training battle and caused their team to lose. When he had made poor decisions and found his lips sewn shut for his insolence and lies. Any time Loki came to him long after he had gone to bed, ashamed of whatever he had done that made him seek the comfort of his brother's arms, unwilling to curl up against him or look him in the eye, unwilling to let Thor see him cry. Loki had been a sensitive young man, hiding behind his wit and his magic. Somewhere in him, Thor knew that had survived the years and his ever-willful little brother was just as sensitive to the slights of the world as he had ever been, but he was now far better at hiding it. Thor fell asleep hoping that the guards would have good news come morning that he could deliver to Loki. No news or bad news could bring about catastrophic action on Loki's part and he did not want to have to be the king that handled his brother melting down and acting out as he had against Odin.


	9. Chapter 9

When Loki awoke, he found Thor's hand on his and his brother's body warm beside him. He smiled, remembering the years before he had pitted himself against Thor when this would have been common. So many slights had led to him cuddled against his brother, the only person in the realm who had made him feel safe. And yet still, Thor himself had often pummeled Loki for various things, including for cutting Sif's hair, though afterwards when Loki had earnestly atoned, he had still sought the protection of his elder brother at night, sometimes curling against him, apologizing as he cried himself to sleep, hoping whatever he had done could be forgiven. It always had been.

For a brief moment, Loki thought that things were going to be all right. That maybe Thor could help him put the pieces back together, find Amundr and Brynja, and the family would be once again intact and everyone would be fine. Then the despair hit again and he felt his heart sink as he thought about Brynja and Amundr trapped by Sigyn. It was hard not to start crying again.

Thor felt Loki moving and woke up, "Good morning, Little Brother. I see you slept."

"Yes, thank you." Thor went to move his hand but Loki caught it and held it for just a moment longer before letting him go.

"Some things never change, do they?"

"Thankfully not. I would have probably done something incredibly rash last night had you not convinced me to stay here."

"You had best get ready for the day. I will meet with the captains to see if they have news from their search last night. Prepare yourself if they have not- we will need all the skills of your sorcery to find them if the guards have not had success."

"I doubt your captains want to see me in merely my bathrobe. I will get dressed."

When Loki returned to his chambers, he went to the bathroom to wash up and realized what a mess he was. His hair was tangled, tear stains on his cheeks, and his eyes were sticky from crying himself to sleep. He bathed quickly, telling himself that every minute counted, that for the sake of his wife and child, he could not waste time.

Loki met Thor in the throne room. Sif, Fandral, Volstagg, and Hogun were already with him, ready to relay messages to the guard and the captains of the day watch.

He waited, fidgeting, until Thor beckoned him forward, "Do you have any news?"

"No. The palace was searched from the lowest cellars to the highest towers and no traces of them were found. They began searches of other halls in the realm, also without result. The day guard will begin searching other homes and buildings in the city. We will need your help to try to find them and to direct the guard."

Loki realized there were two others who ought to know what had happened and really shouldn't find out from strangers, "What about Katja and Sunny? Have they been told yet?"

Sif replied, "Katja will find out when I give commands to my soldiers."

Loki shook his head, "No. The girls should find out from family so they have time to react as they need to. Please, call them here. They need to have a safe place to scream, or cry, or overturn a table..."

Fandral spoke, "Sif, he's right. The girls can't find out their mother is missing through orders."

Sif nodded, "Then you may tell Katja. But we do not have time to waste with a family meeting."

Loki was both angry and heartbroken by her suggestion and nearly responded rather rudely, but Fandral replied instead, "No, Sif. That isn't how this is going to work. I will pull her aside, yes, but I am bringing her here. We will find her sister as well. They need to be together and it is not your place to tell them the news. I think it would be best if they heard it from Loki."

Loki was surprised by Fandral's kindness, and a little suspicious of his motives, "Thank you, Fandral. I would greatly appreciate it if you could bring them here as soon as possible. Please be gentle, though, if they ask questions- if you need to tell them before you arrive here so they do not panic, do. You can read their reactions. You will be able to tell if you need to say something."

Fandral lightly bowed to him and then turned to Thor, "Permission to leave that I might find the girls?" Thor dismissed him and then quickly finished giving orders to the others, dismissing them as well.

Loki met him at the base of the throne, "So they found nothing to indicate where Sigyn has taken them?"

"No. Nothing. Not even a trace of her in the palace. Even Heimdall cannot see them. The guard even roused her sons and asked if they had seen their mother last night and they had not. The last they saw her was at the wedding feast and she disappeared after. They have been worried about her, but figured she must have been staying with friends. It is not the first time she has, apparently, disappeared for a week without telling them where she was going."

Loki bowed his head, "So it really is all up to me, isn't it?"

Thor placed a hand on his shoulder, "Mother and Freyja are looking as well. They do not know Sigyn as well as you do, though, so their search is more limited. They are seeking traces of Brynja's magic, mostly, or for magic users with whom they are not familiar. You have the advantage here in that you know both the women you seek."

"Is Mother already working?"

"Yes, she is with Freyja in her Witching Rooms. I will send for them."

"No. I know where Freyja's hall is. I will go to her. I do not want to interrupt their work."

Fandral entered the throne room with both Sunny and Katja; Katja speaking, "-and if you won't tell me why you've summoned me here, I'm going to start guessing and what I come up with will probably disturb Sunny." Her words stopped when she saw Loki and realized that something was very very wrong by the look on his face.

Sunny spoke first as Fandral bowed out of the room, "Loki? What's going on?"

"I...I...," he felt Thor pat his shoulder reassuringly, "Last night, I awoke to find Sigyn sitting on the end of the bed with Amundr in her arms. She took him. She had already taken your mother. I don't know where they are, she vanished when she reached the hallway. The guards searched last night and could not find her. They are searching again today. Frigga and Freyja are searching their way in Freyja's Witching Rooms and I will be joining them shortly."

Katja went pale for a moment before lashing out, "Why didn't you tell me then? We could have been looking! Precious time, lost!"

Sunny saw Loki's shoulders fall and went to him, "Take me with you to the Witching Rooms. I can help."

Katja continued to rant until Thor went to her, put both his hands on her shoulders, and said her name sternly, "This is not helping. Loki did not tell you last night because I insisted he be rested so he could use his sorcery to its fullest extent today. You may direct your anger at me if you must, but do not direct it at Loki. He did as his king asked. He would not have been able to concentrate. He was as frightened and angry as you are now."

Katja calmed only a little, "But she's our _mother_! Doesn't that mean anything more than him being tired?!" she yelled.

"And what would you have done? Taken to the streets yourself? Dragged citizens out of their homes in your own search? Paced the halls all night so that you could not concentrate today? You may rant and thrash as much as you wish in this room, but the minute you leave it, you are to follow orders. Fandral, Sif, Volstagg, and Hogun have worked with me to create a plan that will cover the entirety of the city of Asgard by the end of today and will allow for the search of the outer lands by the night watch. If you want to find your mother, I suggest you listen to what we have devised. Do not forget that while she is your mother, she was first my sister, a babe in my arms as Mother recovered from birthing her. You are not the only one here who cares for Brynja."

The time had brought Katja down a little, but she was still angry, "And what about him? Does that excuse Loki not telling us?"

"Loki owes his freedom to your mother. He owes her also his life multiple times over. Do not think that he intentionally misled you or wanted to exclude you from the search. He needed to be clear-headed to help find her today, just as you will need to be. Take a deep breath, Katja. You cannot blame him for this. Do you know who Sigyn is?" Katja shook her head, so Thor continued, Loki watching from a distance, Sunny's arm around his shoulder as she talked to him calmly, asking for information that could help her trace Sigyn's magic, "Sigyn was bound to Loki when they were both very young. He lusted for her and she was betrothed, so he tricked her into marriage and later abandoned her after she bore him two sons. Sigyn has never forgotten this and has since honed her skills in sorcery so that she could someday pay back Loki for what he did to her. Her sons are here in the palace and are doing their best to help us find your mother. They have nothing to do with this treachery. They are very concerned about Amundr's well being as well. I need you to focus, Katja. I need you to take orders and do your part to search for your family."

By this time, Katja had calmed a bit more, "Loki's been an ass."

"I will not argue that fact. There have been many dark days in his past. This does not change the fact that I need you to help find Brynja and Amundr," Thor answered.

Sunny approached, "Come on, Kat. Sif didn't want you gone long. I think you need to get back to her so she can tell you how we're going to find them."

Katja nodded and refused to look at Loki, "Fine. But once we find them, I'm having words with Loki."

"You can make that decision once you've calmed down and once you've taken the time to listen to him. Right now is not the time to consider such things."

"Since when are you on his side instead of mine?" Katja asked, a little angry as Thor returned to Loki's side.

"I am on no one's side except the side that wants to find Amundr and Mother. You are both on that side as well. Come now, we have work to do. Your skills are needed elsewhere," Sunny said as she guided her sister out of the throne room.

Loki slumped against Thor, "She's never going to forgive me for this."

Thor hugged him, "Little Brother, if I could forgive you for all the things you have done against me, Katja will as well. Put it out of your mind, though. You have sorcery to do." Loki thanked Thor and left the throne room. He met Sunny outside, Fandral having waited to walk Katja back to the guard.

Sunny spoke little until they were nearly halfway to Freyja's hall, "Are the Witching Rooms going to be the best place for you to work from, or do you have your own secret spaces that will serve you better?"

"All my secret rooms were found and destroyed during the years I was trapped in the dungeon. I have no place left."

Sunny smiled, "Oh, I think there's one left, perhaps? The one at the end of the winding narrow stairs that can only be reached from a passage below the statue of Grandfather's father? The one that has windows on all sides and is yet shielded from the eyes of the city?"

Loki's pace faltered as he realized just which room she was describing, "How in all the nine realms do you know about that room?"

"Curious young witches look for traces of magic and follow them. That one was very well hidden, but I am far more clever than I like to let on."

"And far more powerful, if you could find and follow the magic that hides that room."

"Freyja says I have the chance that with training, I could best Mother and learn some of the spells that Freyja herself has not yet decoded."

Loki smiled, "You may best the Witch?"

She lowered her voice and winked, "I may _be_ the Witch."

"Oh, my dear Sunny, I would be a proud man indeed to see that day. You are truly a skilled sorcerer."

Sunny saw the gates to Freyja's hall as they turned the corner, "It takes one to know one, Loki. And you never answered my question- would you work best here in the Witching Rooms or in a space of your own making?"

"I don't know. Possibly in my own rooms."

"Would you like to try them before joining us here? I'd be happy to tell Grandmother and Freyja that you are working alongside us in your own space."

Loki considered it, "Yes, thank you. I will join you if I find the room too distracting."

Sunny kissed his cheek, "I thought so- besides, the room itself is powerful and you might be aided by the magic in its walls. Go. Find Mother and Amundr."

Loki vanished as Sunny stepped up to the gate and told the orb floating there who she was and what she was there for.


	10. Chapter 10

Loki walked away from Sunny, invisible, thinking it was likely that the girl knew he was only invisible given her skills with magic, but he was not invisible for her sake. He still felt incredibly insecure walking the city by himself, always considering that there were those who blamed him for setting into motion the instability in the realms that lost some of them their warrior sons, husbands, and brothers. There were those who even blamed him for Malekith's attack, believing that if the realms had been stable, he would never have dared attack Asgard. Loki, therefore, traveled invisible.

He slipped back into the castle unseen, not dropping his spell until he was safely closed up in the hidden stairway behind the statue of Bor. The stairway was not as dusty as he imagined it would be, but he also remembered that Sunny had been in the room and had probably cleaned at least a little. He climbed the tower and opened the door to his last remaining study. There was light streaming in from the seven large windows that looked out over the city, illuminating the large bookshelves that ran from the floor to the very high ceiling, all of the books therein ancient and magic in their own rights. The room was clean, the sparse furniture like he had left it so many years ago. His papers still sat on the desk in a neat stack, the ink in the inkwell dried, his quill stuck in the crusted ink. He stood in front of his worktable and surveyed the jars in front of him. Herbs, potions, some strange pieces of small creatures mostly dissolved in their liquids. This had always been his favourite study, though also the least convenient. He liked its seclusion and the fact that to anyone looking from the outside, it was a solid tower with no windows. He, however, had possibly the most spectacular views in the city in his tower. It was a good place to work.

There was a scrying bowl on a short table in front of a low-backed chair. Loki slowly sat down and tried to clear his mind, to focus on only finding Brynja and Amundr. Memories of Sigyn and all of the things he had done to wrong her kept slipping in. He uncorked the crystal water decanter next to the bowl and poured it in the bowl. He stared, trying to get his mind in the right place. Brynja. Amundr. Finding them. He stared in the reflective surface and stared, waiting. Brynja's face appeared. She was tired, worried, possibly frightened.

He whispered, "Amundr. Where is our son?"

The picture became broader, showing the toddler asleep in her arms as she sat on a bench built into the wall. The room appeared to be stone, or at least the part of it she was sitting against was. He refocused and looked for Sigyn. She was not in the room with Brynja and Amundr. Wherever she was, it was in the city. He could see a window behind her. The view from it was familiar. It almost looked like she was on the ground floor of the palace. Then it hit him. Sigyn had her own room in the palace. One that was as well hidden as his. He had created it for her during the first year of their marriage. He nearly knocked over the table as he scrambled to his feet. The room his wife and child were in was in the cellars in one of the few chambers hidden in the walls that was cut off from the other wall passageways. Completely isolated, there was only one entrance to the room and he knew that his arrival would alert Sigyn. He dashed down the stairs, trying to reach Sunny or any of the witch-women telepathically to tell them that he'd found them.

He made himself invisible, not wanting to attract the attention of the guard. There was too much risk that if Sigyn thought she was going to lose her prize by force, that she would act irrationally, taking her anger against Loki out on them in order to hurt him deeply. He ran through the corridors, praying that she was still in the room with the window and that he could get to the chamber his family was in before she did. He only slowed his pace when he reached the cellars, the twisting hallways easy to get lost in if he was not careful, especially given the amount of time that it had been since he had sought this room. He worried about not remembering the way, but the path was ingrained in his memory and he found himself standing outside of a very well hidden door. He closed his eyes and whispered the spell that had once gained him entrance. The door opened noiselessly. He stepped inside, still invisible, and looked around. It looked largely as it had years ago, but there were now bright silver chains attached to the wall above the bench- chains that were attached to Brynja's ankles. Amundr was still asleep.

Loki dropped his invisibility and Brynja jumped, startled, "Shit! Is it really you?"

He nodded and raised the edge of his shirt, showing the edge of the evisceration scar, "Yes," he lowered the shirt, "Did she hurt either of you?" He hurried over to Brynja and quietly dropped to his knees, stroking his son's hair.

"No. But I can't break these chains, either- there's a dampening spell on them that is keeping me from my Witchery. Be careful, Loki, this woman's dangerous."

"I know." Brynja took his hand, "I know she will come back soon, too. My entry to this room will bring her here. She has always known when I was in this chamber."

Brynja looked at him as though he were insane, "Then get out of here! Go, get help!"

Loki shook his head, his eyes sad, "No, Bryn. It's me she wants. Not you, not Amundr. She wanted a bargaining chip and that is what she has. I will do anything to keep you and Amundr safe and she is counting on that."

From behind him, Sigyn spoke, "Ah, so you did figure it out!" She clapped slowly, "Congratulations, Loki, your winning wit and intelligence has once again brought you to the right conclusion long before the twits who are searching for me."

Loki did not face her, rather kept his eyes on his son, "What do you want, Sigyn? Your quarrel is with me, not with them. Release my family."

Sigyn laughed harshly, "Oh, it's not so simple, sorcerer. I want you. Everything about you. I want what you owed me from centuries ago. Your loyalty, your obedience, your attention. Everything. I want to take you when I want to, I want to use you without mercy, just as you used me."

Loki's eyes met Brynja's, "Forgive me, my love," he whispered. He then turned to Sigyn, "And if I agree to this, you will let them go immediately? You will not follow them, you will not take them back if I rebel, you will not bring them into this in any way?"

"For what it's worth, you have my word."

"Then I agree on one condition."

"And that is?"

"I know you are going to forbid me from speaking to them- I can sense that in every word you have spoken. I only ask that I get one letter. One letter that I write and you do not see. One letter that, when I feel I need it most, I can send to each of those I call family."

Sigyn did not agree, "You call far too many people family. I will agree to your wife and your blood only."

"Agreed. I enter into this bargain willingly, an exchange of myself for them."

Brynja whispered, "Loki, don't do this."

Sigyn waved her fingers while chanting the ancient language. Brynja knew what she was hearing was very old magic. The shackles fell from Brynja's ankles and she stood, Amundr cradled in her arms.

Brynja spoke to Loki as she passed, "I love you. Don't forget that. And thank you." She left, his eyes following her.

Sigyn's spell took hold instantly; Loki could not respond to Brynja.

When Brynja reached the hallway, she walked as fast as she could with the sleeping child in her arms to the throne room, hoping to find her brother there. She could find the room again, but she had been deafened when she had been escorted to it in the middle of the night. She knew that meant there was an incantation to get into it. She also knew that there were likely other protections on the room as well, things that would keep her from entering it even if she did figure out the incantation to open the door. She knew the spell Loki was under- she didn't need to hear much of the old language to be able to figure out exactly what Sigyn was doing.

She burst into the throne room, interrupting Odin's conversation with Thor, "I know where she is."

Odin stopped speaking, "Oh Brynja, thank goodness you're safe."

Thor spoke at the same time, "Where were you?"

"In the cellars. Sigyn has a hidden room down there. She told me Loki had hidden it for her centuries ago. She's angry. She's vengeful. And she's got Loki under a binding spell- it's more complicated than that, but he's going to have to do whatever she says and he can't speak to me. I don't think that's the extent of her revenge, though. Some of the things she said last night sounded to be a lot more spiteful than that...like she wants to get him tortured and killed, but she wants to do it in the worst way possible for all of us. She won't do it herself, there are wicked things at play here." She stopped, not knowing what Thor would understand of what she said next, "Sigyn mentioned The Other and Thanos- she was raving to herself about what she was going to do when she got bored of Loki- how she was going to throw him away and make his life as horrible as hers had been, and she mentioned those two in conjunction with the Tesseract."

Odin was stone still, "What else did she say?"

"Not much- Loki owes them something- I think there was more to his use of the Tesseract than just trying to take over Midgard with the Chitauri. I've never been able to get him to talk about whatever it was he endured in the abyss, but there's something we don't know that's going to come back and bite us in the ass very very soon...or whenever Sigyn can't think of any more ways to torment him herself."

"I do not know where Loki found the Tesseract, but I somehow doubt that he found it on his own. Perhaps it was given to him, or he was led to it, that he might give it to someone for a higher purpose after he had used it for his own ends. I doubt this will end well for him."

Brynja adjusted the toddler still dozing in her arms, "I know it won't if we can't stop it. I just don't know what to do. You two are the military minds. I'm just a witch...a good witch, yes, but Sigyn's an insane witch and I'm not sure I can top that."

Odin approached and gently eased the sleeping child from her arms, "She did not harm either of you, did she?"

"No. We were just the bait to draw Loki out. He's the real target. We're just the convenient means to an end."

Meanwhile, Sigyn had already tried out a few simple commands, the pain on Loki's face as he followed her orders very clear. He knew he could not resist what she demanded, but he hated what he was doing. She had commanded him undressed, forced him to kiss her, and was gleefully touching him as he cringed. She hadn't forbidden him from expressing his disdain facially yet, happy to witness his distress, though he had been told he was not to speak.

She grabbed his hair and yanked his head back, "Now kneel."


	11. Chapter 11

Sunny had heard Loki's message that he had found Sigyn, that she was in the palace. She'd relayed the message to Frigga and Freyja. Both had immediately stopped searching and all three women had run from the Witching Rooms, Freyja leading them to her chariot. Sunny had, of course, seen Freyja's cat-drawn-chariot before, but had never ridden in it. She giggled a little in spite of herself as she watched the creatures bound through the streets as they headed for the palace.

When the three women arrived, they found Odin holding Amundr as he woke up, Brynja sitting on a bench that had been brought in for her, and Thor pacing. Upon seeing Brynja, Frigga ran to embrace her daughter. Sunny followed her close behind. Freyja looked at everyone and asked what the heck was going on. Thor filled her in with what they knew, including the pieces that Brynja had overheard in Sigyn's muttering.

Freyja sighed, "Great, we have a mad witch, a door we can't enter, and Loki under someone else's control. This absolutely cannot be good."

Thor called for a guard, asking him to tell Sif, Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun that they had new orders to call off the search; the situation had changed.

There was silence in the throne room until Sunny spoke, "So what do we do now?"

Odin sighed, "My girl, the only thing we can do is wait to see what Sigyn will do. We at least know where she is. Until she reveals herself, we have little recourse other than to keep watch on the door."

Brynja leaned her head on her mother's shoulder, "Poor Loki," she said softly.

Frigga patted her back consolingly, "We'll get him out of this...I don't know how, yet, but we will."

Freyja knelt down in front of Brynja, "Child, I need you to focus on me- can you show me where the door is?"

"But I really don't want to go down there again."

Freyja placed a hand on Brynja's temple, "You don't have to. Clear your mind and show me." Brynja closed her eyes and envisioned ever step down to the cellars and to the hidden door. Freyja broke the connection and stood up, "Excuse me, but I have work to do." She left quickly, hoping she could break the enchantment on the door or at least discover what kind of protections surrounded it so she could work on figuring out how to get around them.

That evening, Frigga and Sunny sat across from each other at Brynja's dining room table while Amundr played with Katja in the other bedroom. Thor paced. Odin stood at the windows and stared at the setting sun. Freyja had gone to back to her Witching Rooms. Brynja had needed to take a break.

Outside in Frigga's gardens, Brynja sat on a bench near the roses and cried. She knew that Sigyn was not going to be kind to Loki. She also knew that some of what she would force Loki to do would be humiliating and painful. Brynja was afraid she would get only a shell of a person back, if she got Loki back at all.

She heard the calling of crows and looked up, knowing that many feet above her, her father stood at the window, watching something, possibly watching her.

She heard voices approaching and a rustle of someone treading recklessly into the bushes along the path, "Tell me you want me, my sweet," a familiar voice said.

Another familiar, yet strained, voice replied, "Yes, I want you."

Brynja dropped her head in her hands, knowing who she would see in only a few short moments. Sigyn, leading Loki by silver chains, passed the rose garden and caught a glimpse of Brynja before Brynja could disappear. A wicked smile crossed Sigyn's face as she led Loki to an adjacent section of the garden.

"This will do. And don't argue, it is the perfect spot. Now show me you want me. Here, on the grass."

Brynja stood, holding back tears, and walked quickly from the garden as she heard Sigyn whispering something unintelligible, moaning after. As soon as she was in the palace, she retreated to the nearest room, placed a silencing spell around herself, and screamed.


	12. Chapter 12

The next morning, Loki woke in Sigyn's bed and hated himself just a little more for not being able to break her spell. He had tried, but whatever magic she used was powerful and whispered to him that he had agreed to this every time he tested the limits of resistance. He prayed that somehow Brynja would forgive him.

Sigyn awoke shortly after and commanded him to dress. She was particularly gleeful, forcing him to kiss her good morning and to then create the illusion of his full armour. She walked around him, inspecting the illusion, and kissed his cheek.

"Loki, darling, today we begin the best part of this little revenge plot- the bit where you destroy your own life. You are going to take a walk into the city square today. And when you do, you are going to get everyone's attention and announce that Loki of Jotunheim seeks to reclaim his rightful place in the halls of his true father. You will announce to all who hear that you are Jotun, not of Asgard, a foundling Odin brought home as a trophy from his war. You will reveal the form of your birth, and then you will vanish and return to me. Is that clear? Oh, and given that today is a public holiday, the day Bor vanquished Svartalfheim, you will do so at the peak of the celebration."

Loki was terrified by this entire prospect and tried to protest, but she placed a finger to his lips, "Nope. You don't get to protest. You will do this proudly, as though you have been planning this all along. And you will threaten Bel somewhere during this little display so that word will inevitably get to him of your treachery."

"I wish to write my letter." Sigyn started to say no, but Loki interrupted, "You agreed to let me write one letter to each of those who are my blood, in addition to my wife. A letter you do not see, a letter I can send when I need it most."

Sigyn angrily went to her desk and pulled out a rumpled stack of paper and a pen, "Write quickly. You will not miss the peak of this celebration for your letter. You cannot avoid my commands this way."

"I do not intend to. But I do intend to write a letter."

Sigyn walked away and let him sit, "Who is this one to?"

"My brother's son."

"You have no brother."

The corners of Loki's lips curled up in a small smile, "No, you are right- I killed him. But his son still lives."

Confused, Sigyn asked, "Where?"

"In Jotunheim." After writing the letter and sealing it, Loki made it vanish and then turned to Sigyn, "You do not get to see it. That was our agreement."

She pressed her lips together and huffed, "You will pay for that, sorcerer. Tonight. But first this realm has an announcement to hear from its dark prince. You'd best be going, there's not much time before you need to be in the square."


	13. Chapter 13

Bel saw the letter darting through the halls of the temple, searching. He watched it flit from wall to wall and stood, waiting. There were so few letters that came to Jotunheim and even fewer that seemed to have minds of their own as they did, letters that searched for their intended recipients. He placed his hand out and the letter settled into it. He carefully opened it.

_"Bel,_

_"I have been bewitched by a woman I once wed and was released from. I do not have control over what I do or what I am going to say shortly to challenge you. Please know this, it is not my intention to say these things, to appear as a warrior, to reveal my Jotun heritage to everyone assembled in the square. I have little time to explain, but please, find Brynja, Odin, and Thor tell them of this letter immediately. I am not permitted to speak to her. I can only write her once and this was not the time that needed it most. I cannot write to many, my letters are limited._

_"Everything I do is meant to hurt me the most right now- Brynja can explain the bargain I made with Sigyn in order to make sure that my wife and son were unharmed. I do not have much time. I will shortly be acting on the order. I know she is trying to force Thor's hand, to force him to act against me. I also believe there are darker forces at work here. Things she has said when she thought I was asleep last night, things that will only make this so much worse. PLEASE, I beg that you talk to Brynja. _

_"I must go. Sigyn is getting impatient. She agreed not to read the few letters I negotiated to send. I must not push her patience or else she will make this so much worse._

_"Tell Brynja I am so sorry for what she saw in the garden. She will know of what I write._

_"Loki."_

Bel read the letter a second time and called to Angrboda, "Do you know the paths into Asgard that require no use of the Bifrost?"

"Of course. Why do you ask?"

"Loki is in some sort of trouble and, by his letter, may be about to threaten the sovereignty of this realm. Apparently he has been bewitched in some sort of agreement with a former lover. I will need to travel to Asgard quickly and with someone who knows this sorcery well. If you will accompany me, I will be grateful."

Angrboda sighed, "Sigyn. Yes, I will come. Let us make haste."

Thor was not entirely sure what to do when two Jotun were reported to be in Asgard at the same time that Loki had been sighted striding in full ceremonial armour to the city centre. He looked to Odin for guidance and Odin agreed to intercept the two before they reached the palace to determine if they were a threat and to identify them if they were known. Thor mounted his horse and, with a contingent of guards around him, rode to the square to determine what Loki was up to.

Loki fought ever step in his mind, but his disposition was proud, just as he had been ordered to be. He knew this was breaking the bargain he had made with Odin to live freely in Asgard after his near-execution in Jotunheim. He hoped that there would be mercy for him when this entire thing was over, whenever that would be.

He found himself in the crowded square and did exactly as she had commanded. He got their attention. He announced, all eyes on him, who he was, where he was from, and his origins. His skin turned blue and he threatened to take the throne of Jotunheim by force to reclaim his birthright as the son of Laufey. He saw Thor standing at the edge of the crowd and his thoughts were screaming, pleading, that Thor understood this was not his plan, that this cruelty was not his own. He vanished, leaving the crowd staring at the spot where he had stood.

Thor did not hesitate, but rode into the square, calling to his people to listen closely, "My fellow citizens of Asgard. It is true, Loki is not one of us by his birth. He is, however, in the love that my parents have bestowed upon him, deserving of it or not. I know that he has wronged us greatly in the past. That he has not held this realm in high regard, and that he as betrayed trust. This is not one of those times. Today, it is he who has been betrayed. Many of you will recall his ill-fated marriage to Sigyn, a rare beauty, and very young. She has returned to Asgard. She now practices sorcery and took Lady Brynja and the young Amundr hostage so that she could trade their freedom for Loki's. His actions are not his own, but that of a prisoner bewitched. I know you cannot trust him. Do, however, trust your king. I have spoken to Lady Brynja. Lady Freyja has seen her memories. Loki is not himself. Whatever he is forced to do, remember this. I do not know how we will undo this, but you have my word that we will not have war with Jotunheim. We will not fall for these schemes." Many in the crowd clapped, some cheered, but most were simply stunned to silence as Thor rode out from them. It was rare for the king to make so public an appearance and they knew that whatever situation they were facing, it was dire if he was speaking so frankly and so quickly after an incident. They were also stunned by Loki's revelation and Thor's confirmation of it.

Loki, however, did not hear Thor's speech, pulled back to Sigyn's chamber and commanded to seduce her as he had so long ago. His heart sank as he touched her bare skin, believing in his heart that every action was a betrayal of his wedding vows, a little moment of treason against his wife. He tried to detach from what he was doing and found that to some extent, he could simply turn off his mind and let the spell command his body. Still, he knew that he was the one touching Sigyn, the one kissing her, the one removing her clothing and holding her intimately and he fought against the spell, unable to break its hold on him.


	14. Chapter 14

As Thor spoke to the multitudes in the square, Odin met Bel and Angrboda and sighed in relief that they were familiar faces, "King Bel, what brings you here unannounced?"

Bel approached and handed the letter to Odin, "There was no time for an announcement or to arrange travel the usual ways. We had to move quickly and Angrboda knows the secret passages in our realm far better than I."

"So he suspects darker forces...Brynja has relayed she overheard Sigyn speaking of Thanos. Both were a part of what he did in Midgard. I fear he is in far too deep for us to easily break him free. Come, we will go to the palace. Brynja and Thor can fill you in on what is happening. It is not a story best told while walking."

Angrboda asked, "Could you use my skills as a Jotun witch?"

"I believe Freyja will be grateful for the offer. She is working with Frigga and Sunny to try to identify and break the spells on Sigyn's chambers. It is proving difficult."

When they arrived at the palace, they were immediately escorted to the throne room where Brynja sat, her face red from crying, her son watching Katja with fascination from a safe distance as she twirled her sword in complicated patterns around her body. Thor was once again pacing. Frigga and Freyja were nowhere to be seen, but Sunny was reading a very large leather-bound book while attempting to also keep an eye on Amundr.

Thor spoke when he saw them enter, "Welcome to Asgard, friends from Jotunheim. What brings you to our home during such distressing times?" Bel handed him the letter and he read it quickly, "Ah...I see. This is true. Loki announced his blood, showed his Jotun face, and threatened to take the throne of Jotunheim by force. I attempted to reassure the assembled crowd, but I do not know how well it worked. Loki is, indeed, bewitched."

Angrboda took the letter from Thor and knelt in front of Brynja while the kings spoke, "Loki wanted to make sure you saw this."

Brynja wiped the tears from her eyes, but they were replaced with more, "I'm sorry, I don't think I can stop crying long enough to read it."

"He begs Bel to talk to you, to come to an understanding of what is happening and that there are darker forces involved, not just a woman he abandoned centuries ago." Brynja took a few deep breaths, as though she were trying to calm herself enough to explain, and Angrboda continued, speaking softly, "He also says he is so sorry for what you saw in the garden." Brynja lost control and sobbed. Angrboda wished she could hold the distraught woman, but knew that her touch would only cause pain.

Sunny set her book down and sat down beside her mother on the bench, putting her arms around her and letting her rest her head against her shoulder as she cried, "Thank you, Angrboda, for bringing the letter."

"You are welcome. Do you know where I could find Frigga and Freyja? My magic is strong, perhaps I could assist."

"We'll be glad for the help. As soon as Mother calms down, I will take you to them. I'm working with them as well."

Odin heard the exchange between Sunny and Angrboda and insisted that Sunny take Angrboda to the Witching Rooms sooner, rather than later. He sat down next to his daughter and gathered her in his arms, careful to keep watch on Amundr, still fascinated by Katja's sword-play.

The kings discussed strategy. What to do if Loki tried to enter Jotunheim, where to place guards so the passages to other realms were secure, and how to try to apprehend Sigyn if the spells on her chambers could be broken. They brought Odin into their discussions as they tried to find any way to rescue Loki. Their negotiations went well into the night, as did the Witchery going on under Freyja's hall. Brynja returned to her chamber with Amundr and Katja, who had appointed herself her mother's bodyguard until other orders were received. Amundr loved the idea of having his big sister stay the night.

Loki, meanwhile, prayed for dreamless sleep, hoping to escape the nightmare he found himself in. At least physical torture was something that was consistent- he always knew it was going to hurt and was only going to hurt him. He knew this was hurting others, his wife, the girls, Thor...everyone he cared about except possibly Amundr, who would only really understand that his father was gone, not exactly what his father was doing. He thanked the universe for that small blessing, that his son would not understand why he was missing.


	15. Chapter 15

Sigyn's plans only seemed to get worse. A few days after his announcement in the square, Loki awoke to find himself commanded to fight Sif for the sole purpose of getting injured so that Sigyn could nurse him back to health. He was instructed not to speak, only to fight, and to use magic against Sif if he could.

Katja was watching Sif train new fighters when Loki appeared in the courtyard. Sif called for her to take over the training and approached Loki.

"What do you want?"

Unable to answer, he attacked. She parried. Katja moved the trainees farther away as Loki cast spells. Sif blocked what she could and dodged others. Her plan had been to avoid hurting him at all costs, well aware that he was not under his own control. He was persistent, however, and she changed tactics, instead deciding that it would be best for her trainees and for herself if she could disable him quickly. She dropped down to dodge a blow and quickly planned her attack. She launched herself at him and delivered a blow to his groin that sent him staggering backwards and dropped him to his knees, a dagger falling from his hand. She grabbed the training staff she had dropped during her dodging and delivered a blow to his knees as he struggled to stand up, hearing the bone crack as he fell, a silent scream on his face. She then carefully delivered a blow to his head that toppled him completely.

As he lay on the ground, she picked up his dagger and knelt beside him, "I'm sorry, Loki, but this is for your own good." She drove the dagger through his arm and pinned him to the ground. Again he screamed, no sound coming from his lips. Sif walked to the palace, calling for guards. Loki closed his eyes, the pain overwhelming his senses. He felt the air change around him and the cool of the stone floor of Sigyn's room. Loki cursed viciously, his voice finally freed, tears in his eyes.

"Oh, it can't be that bad, can it?" Sigyn asked, mock concern in her voice.

"Go away, Sigyn. Just leave me be."

"No, no, no...you need someone to care for you...and you will let me care for you. You won't fight it, will you?" she said.

Loki whispered, despondent, "No. I can't. You won't let me."

A week later and there was still no progress made by the witches to break the spells keeping Sigyn's room closed. They knew Sigyn had to be thinking up something truly terrible for her next plan, but they could not figure out what. They were in council, the witches, the warriors, and the rest of the family, trying to figure out just what to do next, while Sigyn was working out just how she was going to execute the next part of her plan.

Sif sighed, "I don't know what we can do at this point. We can't get into stop him, we can't touch him when he's out- she snatches him back. I tried to pin him to the dirt, but whatever magic she uses, she moved him before I could call for the guard. We won't be able to take him alive unless she's dead."

Fandral agreed, "So we need to draw her out. What will get her to leave the cell?"

"Only seeing something that will really cause Loki pain. She did not need to see him beaten, her joy is in tormenting him after, in possessing him," Thor said.

"So what would get her to come out?" Katja asked.

Brynja's voice was distant as she replied, "A death of someone Loki cares about. Someone she can make him kill."

Hogun finished the thought, "The death of a king. She's trying to start a war, to force Loki's hand." He looked to Thor, "You."

Sunny spoke, "She's been too quiet this week, but given Loki's injuries, she's probably playing nursemaid. We need to draw her out."

Katja shrugged, "Nice words, Sunny, but do you actually have a plan?"

She nodded, "Yes. I have a birthday in a week. We usually celebrate publicly for at least part of the day, being royals and all. We need to announce the a time when the citizens of the realm can wish me a happy birthday on the steps of the palace. We make sure that it is known that my uncle will be with me. Sigyn should be able to see through illusions if they are thin, so we'll need to construct this carefully. I want her to know it's not me beside Thor. I want her to think him vulnerable, Loki's chance to act. I will take a post and craft a second illusion more carefully, one she can't see through. Sif, I will need you and the Warriors Three to be very obvious bodyguards. Mother, you will serve as a distraction. Katja, you will let me speak to you in your mind, as we have done before. We will run a test and divert her attention, we will find her, and we will remove her from the equation."

Thor shook his head, "I cannot let you put yourself in danger, Sunny. She is a witch-"

"Yes, she is a witch." Sunny interrupted, "But I'm a stronger one." She looked to Freyja, "Tell them."

Freyja nodded, Angrboda on one side of her giving Sunny a wink, "It's true," Freyja said. "Sunny is remarkable. She has learned quickly from all of us- the magic of Asgard, Vanaheim, and Jotunheim all come easily to her. Trust that she can do this."

Brynja sat forward, pen in one hand and paper in front of her, "So let's outline how this will work." Sunny began to talk in greater detail, her confidence not betraying that she was uncertain of one thing, the one thing the plan hinged on- that Sigyn would actually leave her chambers to watch Loki kill Thor.


	16. Chapter 16

On Sunny's birthday, Loki woke, did his best to make himself presentable, and limped to the desk; Sigyn appeared behind him, "And what are you doing?"

"Writing to my son. One of my letters. You agreed not to read it."

"Fine."

Loki wrote and sent the letter quickly, watching it vanish before his eyes and hoping it got where it needed to go.

Sigyn smiled cruelly, "Today is going to be a big day, Loki. You're going to be regal when you step out to join the masses in front of the palace, ready to give Sunny her birthday greeting...and to kill Thor. You will even have a sword with you so you can make the cut clean and quick. This time, I will be watching. I need to see what it does to you to draw his blood, to see him spill it on the ground. You will not speak to anyone until you greet Sunny. Then you will strike."

Loki dropped his head into his hands, "Sigyn, enough. You wanted me, you have me. You have humiliated me, you have stolen my body, you have broken my heart. Can't this be over?"

"No, it will hurt more this way. Now shut up and follow orders. You have a lot of preparation to do."

Sunny, meanwhile, was dressing in the gown that looked like flames in her mother's room when a letter appeared on the bed next to Amundr, "Mum? A note came for Amundr."

Brynja was sitting sipping tea at the little breakfast table, her back to her daughter, "Go ahead and read it- who brought it?"

"No one. It just appeared."

Brynja slowly set her tea down, "Read it. Out loud."

_"Amundr,_

_"My dear son. I am so sorry for the reputation I am leaving behind. I know it will come back to hurt you. I am grateful, however, that I was able to make sure that you were not harmed in all this. That you and your mother were left alone. I only hope that it stays this way. _

_"I do not know what is being planned for me. I only know that it will prevent me from celebrating Sunny's birthday with you. Please, my darling son, remember only the love I gave you, not the things that I am being forced to do now. Hold that in your heart. Ask your sisters to tell you stories. Have your mother tell you about the hours after your birth when I first saw you and could not stop staring at you, my entire heart in awe of your existence._

_"Forgive me, my son. I hope I can come back to you, but if not, know that I love you dearly and remind your sisters and your mother of that often._

_"Father."_

Brynja came to the bed, picked up Amundr, and hugged him very tightly, "Your father will come home. I don't know how, but it will happen."

Sunny folded the letter and placed it on Brynja's desk, "We know she's not telling him things that far in advance if he doesn't know what is being planned for today. This could work in our favour. If Sigyn does what we think she will, he'll be acting without preparation and any hesitation could be a benefit to us."

Not long after, Amundr was safe with Freyja, Frigga, and Angrboda in the Witching Rooms while Sunny's plan was put into action. The illusion of her on the steps was well crafted, but not too well crafted. Her second illusion sat in a balcony not far away, watching, smiling, a book on the balcony railing. She was not far from her well-crafted false self, her bow and arrow at her side. She hid herself well, a clear view and a clear shot in front of her. She surveyed the scene before her. Thor and Brynja were to one side of her while Katja, ever the bodyguard, was on her other side. Sunny-the-illusion greeted well-wishers kindly while her mother accepted their gifts and placed them in baskets so they could be more easily brought to the palace later. Sif and the Warriors Three patrolled the courtyard.

Sunny saw Loki approaching on Sigyn's arm long before Katja did and she thought down to her sister, "They've entered the square and are walking your way. They are not in the line. Sigyn looks smug. Loki does not smile. Neither are an illusion."

Katja thought back to her, "Roger that. I'll let you know when I see them."

"Just look for the horns, he's wearing that ridiculous helmet."

Sunny saw Katja smirk and she heard in her head, "Yep, found them. Tell me what she's up to."

The sisters rarely spoke telepathically. Katja hated it, she thought it was an invasion of her mind and had been very upset the first time Sunny had tried it without telling her. The second success, even with a warning, was met with just about as much resistance. Sunny had since taught Katja some basic magic to block telepathy, but she knew that the spells had been very difficult for her sister to learn. Katja had appreciated them none the less.

Sunny watched Loki and Sigyn make their way to the front of the line. Sunny's illusion was working perfectly- it was clear that Sigyn saw through it. She whispered something to Loki.

Katja, standing nearby, heard the whispered words, "It's not her. The little witch is hiding. Try to kill her."

Loki closed his eyes and jabbed a dagger into the illusion. The crowd screamed and people began to run, shoving others out of their way in the effort to flee. The Sunny-illusion slumped and fell to the ground. She flickered and vanished.

The second illusion rose and spoke,"Fear not, good people- I am unharmed. I believed the worst could happen and was prepared for it. Your birthday wishes were heard and are appreciated greatly."

Katja stood still, watching every move Sigyn made, thinking to Sunny, "She's real, isn't she? I could engage here right now and end this."

"No," Sunny thought back, "She'd only kill you. Wait. We need to see how she acts. Remember, this is a test- observation of an unknown enemy. We have to buy them time while she's away."

Loki stood in front of his wife and his king and drew out a long sword. Sigyn stepped back, giving him one more command.

Katja reported to Sunny, "She just told him to kill his wife."

Loki was struggling against the command as he lifted the sword; he looked Brynja in the eyes and fought the silencing spell, managing to say, "I'm so sorry, Bryn," before swinging the blade at her. Thor shoved her out of the way and took the blade in his shoulder instead. Loki pulled it back and readied to swing again, this time to kill Thor.

Sunny gave the order to Katja, "Distract her."

Katja quickly drew the hatchet from her belt and threw it. It landed with a satisfying thunk in Sigyn's leg. She cursed, she howled, and she lost her concentration long enough that Loki could stay his blade and drop it at Thor's feet, himself falling to his knees, the illusion of his armour gone. Sigyn's rage fuelled her and she grabbed Loki's hair, the both of them vanishing. Katja's hatchet clattered on the steps.

Sunny-the-illusion raced into the palace. Sunny-the-real followed suit, dropping her invisibility as she did. She thought to Freyja, "Any success?"

Freyja's message came back clear, "We've got her secret. We're safe. Get them inside. She is very very angry."

Sunny ran through the halls and down the steps to her mother and uncle. Katja, Sif, Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun were helping those injured in the rush to escape to get to their feet. Brynja was working on Thor's arm.

Sunny sat down by her mother, "Other than the injuries, the mission was a success. They did it."

Thor gritted his teeth as Brynja worked to knit his muscles back together, "Then I will bear this pain proudly."

Brynja was silent as she worked, only looking up for a moment, "He spoke to me."

Sunny realised how significant this was- for a brief moment, Loki had overcome the silencing spell. She also knew that he would dearly pay for it.


	17. Chapter 17

When they arrived back in Sigyn's chamber, Loki knew he was going to be punished severely for both his failure to kill Thor and for speaking to Brynja. He did not know which would be the harsher punishment, but he feared that either would be terrible. He was still on his knees.

Sigyn did not seem to notice the blood running down her leg as she tightened her grip on his hair and dragged him to the stone bench and threw him against the wall, tightening the silver chains and snapping the manacles around his ankles, "I commanded you not to speak to her!" she shrieked. "HOW DID YOU DO IT?"

Loki simply shook his head, "I have no idea."

A wicked grin spread across her face, "Oh, I know how to solve this problem, sorcerer. I know what we can do." She went to a small basket on the table and pulled out a large needle and some rough thread, muttering enchantments over them as she returned. She threaded the needle and held it with one hand as she wrenched his head back with the other, "You remember what this felt like, don't you? What it felt like to be punished for lies?" She saw the fear in his eyes and revelled in it, "Good, you do! Let's do it again. You will not flinch. You will not move an muscle while I stitch. You will not utter a single sound." With that, she drove the needle through his lips slowly, methodically, his blood flowing freely down his chin, dripping along his neck and seeping into his shirt. He could not think, only the pain existed. It took him time to begin to cry, his brain initially unable to grasp what was happening. When she finished, she cut the thread, "You can move now. Or scream, if you can figure out how. But you will not remove these stitches. The thread will only tighten if anyone but someone who loves you dearly tries to cut it." She put the needle away, "Oh, and did I mention we aren't done yet? We're going to kill everyone who loves you next so that you can't ever be free of this. Yes. Everyone. I know, I know, I gave you my word...but my word has never meant much to you, has it?" She disappeared.

Loki did not know if she had vanished or simply become invisible, but the difference did not matter to him. He dropped his head to his hands and sobbed, his blood and tears mixing as they ran down his face and dripped on the floor, his fingers digging into his scalp.

Sunny, meanwhile, was working on trying to figure out what kept her from speaking telepathically to Loki. She sought out a quiet place to think and found herself at the statue of Bor. She made her way up to Loki's study and settled into an armchair. She took a deep breath and concentrated on him, trying to use the magic in the room to enhance her ability to reach him. It failed. She then noticed the scrying bowl on the table and decided to see if it would work. She carefully added water to the bowl and focussed on his presence. She opened her eyes and stared into the bowl, startled to see him in it, his face and hands smudged with the blood running from his lips, tears flowing freely down his face. For the first time since his disappearance, she felt her own tears rise and did not stop them. She said his name.

On the stone bench, Loki swore he heard a voice call to him. He tried to quiet himself and listened more carefully, his head still in his hands. He heard it again, this time more clearly, and most definitely in his head.

The second time it said, "Hold on, we're coming for you."

Loki went to the desk to write his final letter.


	18. Chapter 18

A few days later, Sigyn decided she had to make her final plan, one that would take down the entire family and keep them from interfering with her plans for Loki. She had been watching them carefully, noting that in the last two days, the family had spent more time together in the gardens. She approached Loki and told him her plan.

Loki listened to the commands and was once again compelled to follow them. He created the illusion of grandeur and pride, but Sigyn insisted that he show his stitched-shut lips to show just who was in control of the silver-tongued prince. She would once again accompany him, this time acting along with him with her magic as well as having him execute everyone he loved.

They appeared in the garden while Frigga hosted tea. Freyja was absent, as she often was, and so was Amundr. Sigyn had not counted on the presence of the Jotun woman. She discounted her as a savage and gave Loki the command to strike.

Loki did, his blade piercing Frigga's heart, a blow to the head felling Odin, and Thor stabbed through the throat before anyone could summon the guard. Loki, once again forced to silence by spells as well as by his stitched-shut lips, could not believe what was happening. He fought against the magic, but nothing changed.

From a short distance, Sunny watched her illusion play out, her own body falling to Sigyn's magic as an illusionary Katja fought back valiantly, but ultimately fell to Loki's dagger.

In her head, Katja asked, "Now?"

"Not yet," she replied, "We need her to really be surprised when you appear. Possibly enough to drop her hold on him."

"Are they both real?"

"Yes, very real. Her pride won't let her miss this."

"Sunny, Loki's crying- this is killing him. We need to end this soon."

Sunny watched her mother fall in the courtyard as Angrboda rose up and charged Sigyn, "Now would be a good time, since I think all of us are dead."

Katja ran from the palace, her hatchet in one hand, sword in the other, screaming out a war cry that could have curdled any sane person's blood. It stopped Sigyn in her tracks and Angrboda used the moment to throw Sigyn onto the steps. Sigyn recovered quickly and tried to attack Katja, but Katja was still charging at Loki. He barely deflected the blow from her sword when she turned to throw her hatchet at Sigyn, sinking it into her shoulder, quickly returning to her fight against Loki.

Sunny carefully strung an arrow in her bow and aimed it at Sigyn's heart. She waited for the perfect moment as Angrboda grabbed her by the hair and flung her down the steps hard, enough for her magic to lose its grip on Loki so that he threw both his daggers into the ground and his illusion vanished as he dropped to his knees in despair, his face nearly touching the ground as his arms failed to better hold him up. Sunny let her arrow fly and it struck true. She strung another and fired it at Sigyn's neck. Just to be certain, she calmly strung a third and it pierced her skull. The bodies in the courtyard vanished. Sunny lightly leapt from her hiding place and approached Katja as Brynja ran down the stairs to Loki, calling his name.

Katja prodded Sigyn with her foot, "Is she dead?"

"If she's not, she never will be," Sunny replied. She turned to Angrboda, "Thank you for your help. I could not have found a clear shot without you."

Angrboda nodded, "Do you know if Freyja and Frigga were successful in entering her room?"

Sunny thought to Freyja and received a reply, "The room is on fire as we speak. Apparently Grandmother disguises rage quite well until she is given the opportunity to express it."

Odin approached with Thor, Amundr in his arms, "Let us then burn the body as well."

Meanwhile, Brynja held Loki close to her, his face buried in her shoulder as he sobbed quietly, relieved he had not executed his entire family but still devastated by what he had seen, "Loki, your lips...I will call Sif to cut the cords- she has steady hands."

Loki shook his head and placed a hand on her chest, trying to straighten his thoughts enough to send them to her; the only word he could get to come through to her was, "You."

She called out, "I need a knife."

Sunny approached with the knife she used for cutting herbs in the garden, "Here. It is blessed, perhaps it will not sting so much."

Brynja's hands were shaking as she lifted the knife to his face, "I can't do it, I'll cut your lips..."

Sunny took the knife from her, "Then let me start." A look of panic crossed his face, but she told him to lay down, his head in Brynja's lap, and gently eased the blade under the first thread while she muttered spells of her own. It snapped easily, "You see, while Sigyn was a strong witch, she always forgot one thing that I have learned from Vanaheim's magic. It is the magic of love and kindness that is the strongest." She cut the second thread, "And the magic of Jotunheim has taught me that pain is powerful enough to hold magic of its own. This is not going to be painless, you will bleed, but we will do this as gently as possible. Mother, come behind the knife and pull the threads from his lips, please."

Brynja did as she was asked, her eyes filled with tears as the blood welled up from each hole, the bruising on his lips dark, the scabs tearing as the threads were drawn out. When they were done, he was still, his eyes closed, breathing deeply through his mouth, his jaw relaxing slowly as Brynja stroked his cheek.

Sunny put away the knife and stood, but Loki called to her, "Please, stay."

Katja sat down beside Brynja, Odin, Thor, Amundr, joining them as Sunny sat back beside Loki. Brynja stroked his hair. It was not long before Frigga joined them, Freyja and Angrboda leaving the space closest to him for his family, seating themselves both at his feet. Vali and Nari, summoned by the guards to the courtyard to see their mother's body removed, did not stay long by her side and instead came to settle in by Freyja and Angrboda.

When Loki sat up and opened his eyes, he was surprised to have so many people around him. He tried to smile but could not, his lips burning. He gasped at the pain and Brynja gathered him in her arms.

Frigga placed a hand on Loki's back, "This part is over. She's gone."

He shook his head and spoke slowly, trying to move his lips as little as possible, "She's gone, but it's far from over."

Brynja ran her fingers through his tangled hair, "Thanos and The Other. She mentioned them while she had Amundr and I."

Loki clutched her a little more tightly, "They will be merciless when they come and they _will_ come. I heard her calling them last night."

Katja fiddled with her hatchet, "I don't suppose they will be as blind to illusion as Sigyn was, will they?"

Freyja shook her head, "No, they won't be. I know little of them, but what I have been able to gather is that they are both very powerful in their own rights. The Other is merely a puppet, but he is a good puppet, and strong. I do not truly even know what Thanos is, but the stories I have found equate him to a god."

Nari spoke up, "We might be able to help."

Vali continued, "Mother wasn't a very strong sorceress even a few years ago. She started talking to Thanos to gain her strength. She would write down her conversations with him in order to make sure she didn't forget anything."

Nari added, "She never left home without her book of notes- it's here. In our luggage."

Odin rose and gestured to Freyja and Angrboda, "Bring it to the library. We will see what we can make of it."

Frigga stood, too, and offered to help them. Thor went to inform the cooks that they might want to make dinner rather soft so that Loki could eat something without having to disturb his lips much.

Katja, Sunny, Loki, Brynja, and Amundr sat in the garden on the grass quietly until Katja said, "I thought when we were done with all this that I'd want to beat you with a stick for letting Mother be taken. I kind of still do, but I mostly just want you to know that I've missed you...but no more angry ex-wives coming to visit. We're done with that. I can't handle any more crazy." Loki almost laughed and she stood up, "Come on, Sunny, let's go see what we can do to make battle plans with the notebook of the batshit ex-wife. We've got a lot of work to do if Freyja's reading things that call Thanos a god- usually _we're_ the ones the stories call gods."

Sunny nodded, "In just a moment." She kissed her mother's cheek and then briefly took Loki's hand, "When you've rested, I'll tell you about the magic I've learned during this. You'll be proud of me."

She could see he was fighting the urge to smile as he said, "I'm sure I will be."

Sunny asked Brynja, "Do you want me to take Amundr so you have some time to get Loki settled?" Brynja nodded and Sunny took the little boy's hand, "Don't worry, little one- you'll curl up with your father tonight. He's not going anywhere this time. We will make sure of it."

Once alone, Brynja took the time to really look, undistracted, at her husband. He looked weary, there were dark circles under his eyes. There were bruises on his neck and she could she as his shirt shifted that they trailed down his chest as well. His feet were bare, his trousers grimy, the knees crusted with dirt. His hair was greasy and matted in places, bruises also where he had been manacled at his wrists and ankles. He was hanging onto her weakly and she shifted him so she could cradle him in her lap.

"Loki, my love...shall we get you inside and draw a bath?"

"I don't know if I can bear to have you see what all she has done to me."

"Loki, I've seen the scar from where my ex-husband eviscerated you. If you tell me, I will listen."

He still did not want to go to their chambers, "Can we just lay in the sun for a little while first?"

Brynja knew he was stalling, but accepted that the sun did feel nice on her skin. She reclined on the grass and gently eased him down with her. It did not take long for Loki to fall asleep curled against her. Brynja thought about waking him, but instead let herself doze off with him in the garden, the sun warm and soothing.

When they woke, it was nearly time for supper. Brynja heard bells from a clock tower somewhere in the city and gently roused Loki, repeating his name and trying not to have to shake him, not knowing where he hurt most or what would trigger him to panic. She helped him up and she walked him to their chambers, moving slowly as she noticed he was limping.

After she closed the door, Loki stood staring at the bed, unmoving, "Is it safe, Bryn? She took you- she took you and she took our son from here."

Brynja took his hands, "And I hadn't thought to put any restrictions on the spells in this room- we're magic users, I didn't want either of us to run into problems. We've changed that, though. There are spells in place to make sure no one outside of the family can enter uninvited. Sunny put protections in place to make sure that illusions or shape shifting will fail when someone walks through the door. It is safer here now than it was before."

Loki was only somewhat comforted by the thought as a knock came at the door and one of the servants called out that they had brought supper. Loki put up a glamour to make himself look less dishevelled and sat down at the breakfast table. Brynja answered the door and took their plates, thanking and dismissing him. She brought the meal to Loki and sat down across from him. Soft foods- things that required little chewing- were the bulk of the meal. Loki ate slowly, wincing, pausing when the pain was overwhelming. Brynja reached out and took his hand each time he stopped, frustrated with himself and with the pain in his lips.

After dinner, Brynja ran a hot bath. She coaxed Loki into the bathroom and began to undress. He hesitated.

"Loki, you're going to have to wash at some point. You might as well get it over with."

He whispered back, "Bryn, we've been married just short of three weeks. I've spent two of those weeks in the chamber of a woman who enslaved me. Nights I should have been in your arms I was in hers, albeit unwillingly. I have, in these weeks, broken my vow of fidelity, dishonoured you with my actions, and raised my hands against you. I am unworthy of you, my love."

"Loki, will you ever feel worthy? None of these things were your fault- you bargained for the safety of our son and for my own safety and were unable to make your own decisions. I don't think you broke your promises." She slipped her arms around his waist and felt him flinch, "Loki, what do I need to do to convince you to bathe?"

"I don't know. I don't want you to see what she did."

Brynja chose her words carefully, "Loki, I remember when I first touched Sunflower. She flinched. She backed away. She had to later explain that she had been abused by a family friend as a young child. She lived with that for the rest of her life. I had to ask her if I could touch her, if I could kiss her, and our intimacy was always cautious as I tried not to trigger her memories. Do I need to do that for you?"

Loki did not answer at first, but then said, "This wasn't just beatings, Bryn..."

She gave a name to it, "Sexual abuse. Rape. Sunflower was repeatedly fondled, raped, and otherwise forced to endure things that should always be consensual. I'm assuming Sigyn did the same to you."

Loki blushed red, his shame clear as he silently mouthed the word, "Yes," hot tears in his eyes as he failed fighting them back.

She raised her hand and rested it an inch from his cheek, open palm, waiting for him to respond; he rested against it, "Loki, my love, you don't need to be ashamed of what someone did to you. You did not do anything to deserve this."

"I broke her, Bryn. So many years ago...I stole her beloved and took her unwillingly as my wife. Odin offered her an escape, to break the marriage as soon as he knew, but she believed those vows were once in a lifetime vows. I did not give her a choice, how is this not deserved?"

"Because brutal revenge is not something I can justify. There are reasons I never acted against Fandral after finding out more of what he did to you. I don't believe that anyone wins when everyone always seeks vengeance, especially given how time changes us all. You did a terrible thing to Sigyn, yes, and I would never expect her to forgive you, but for her to do what she did... You didn't deserve this." Loki's tears were falling freely when Brynja asked, "May I kiss your cheek?" He nodded and she very gently kissed him. "May I place my hands on your back under your shirt?" He nodded again, but still flinched as her hands touched his skin, "May I take off your shirt?" Loki took a deep breath and slowly let it out, nodding as he did. Brynja very gently lifted his shirt over his head. The deep wound from Sif's dagger was angry on his arm, the healing done inexpertly and only partially. "May I help you remove your trousers?" Loki froze. Brynja did not ask again, but waited. He sat down on the edge of the bath and, hands shaking, took them off on his own.

His body from his thighs to his neck was covered in bruises, bite marks, scratches, and small wounds. The knee Sif had broken was at the wrong angle. The worst of the bruising circled his hips and pelvis, though the small wounds and bite marks were concentrated mostly on his chest, neck, and back. Brynja finished undressing and helped him into the tub. She sat behind him and very gently rested her hand on his shoulder.

Loki tucked his knees to his chest, "Bryn...I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For everything...these past two weeks. We're newlyweds. We should be celebrating together, tangled under the sheets while our son sleeps. Instead... Instead I can barely let you touch me."

"May I work on unmatting your hair?"

"Yes."

"And shit happens, Loki. Sometimes pretty awful shit...like what Sigyn did and everything that happened to Sunflower. But we'll deal with it, just like we've dealt with everything else. You don't have to be sorry. You didn't set out to hook up with a crazy ex a week after our wedding. You exchanged your freedom to try to ensure our safety and for two weeks you lived in hell. There is a big difference. You don't have anything to be sorry about." As her fingers caught on a knot in his hair, his shoulders tensed and he jerked forward, away from her.

"Things won't ever be the same, will they, Bryn?" Loki asked as he forced himself to sit back and let her continue to work through his hair.

"No, my love, they won't be. But we'll make it." Her fingers hit another large snarl and he again jerked forward, this time even more forcefully than before. Breathing raggedly, he leaned his forehead on his knees and covered his head with his hands. "Loki...talk."

Loki took a few deep breaths, "She dragged me by my hair. She used it to force me to... She grabbed it when she... And when she stitched my lips shut..." He squeezed his eyes closed and tried to shut out the memories.

Brynja placed her hands back on his shoulders, "Darling, do I need to just leave your hair alone for now?"

"No, it won't ever get any better."

"Do I need to cut it?"

"No. Please, keep working on it. Gently."

Brynja did as he asked, frequently stopping to untangle little knots, work out matted sections and to check in with him to make sure that he could still handle her combing her fingers through his hair. It took the better part of a half hour to get to the point where she could run a brush through it. Once she could, she carefully washed his hair, easing the brush through it frequently as she did. She then washed his back and asked him to turn around so she could clean the stab wound through his arm and he obliged. The lightness of her touch was calming, even when it hurt a little and even when he flinched. She knitted together the wound in his arm and set his knee back where it ought to have been. He gasped in pain when she popped the joint into place. She tried to heal his lips, but the enchantment that had been on the thread prevented it.

"May I wash your chest?"

Loki looked down at his bruised skin and shook his head, "No." Brynja instead bathed herself while he sat in the water inspecting the damage Sigyn had done. He touched his stomach just above where the worst of the bruising started and sighed, "I can say no," he said, mostly to himself. He then looked at Brynja as she combed through her hair, short by Asgard's standards. He would have smiled had his lips not still hurt so badly, "But I can also say yes..."

Brynja rinsed her hair and turned her attention back to him, "Do you want me to wash you now?"

"Yes, please. Be slow, though, so that I know what is going to be most difficult to handle." Brynja followed his instructions carefully, pausing when he flinched and waiting for him to tell her to continue. Brynja's patience was something Loki had always thought was remarkable and the way she simply waited when he needed her to once again reminded him of why he had believed it so. Once she had finished, he pulled her close, thanking her and snuggling against her. Brynja gently put her arms around him and he did not flinch.

"Is it easier when you decide? When you choose to touch first and I respond the way you expect?"

"Yes, when I have control over what is happening."

"May I kiss you? Very carefully?"

Loki nuzzled her cheek, "Yes."

Brynja very softly kissed the corner of his lips and felt those lips part, anticipating the kiss, before he softly groaned in pain, "Thank you, love."

"Let's get you ready for bed, Loki. You need to rest. We'll try to fix your lips again tomorrow. Maybe I'm just too tired to make it work tonight."

Brynja got out of the bathtub and dried, putting on a fluffy robe and then offering Loki a hand as he stepped over the tub edge. He accepted her help and dried himself, letting her drape his own warm robe over his shoulders. She left the bathroom and turned down the bed. He slipped beneath the blankets and she tucked them around him.

"Are you coming to bed, too, Bryn?"

"Soon. But I am going to sit up until one of the girls brings Amundr to bed. He's been asking about you every night, wondering why you weren't here to tell him bedtime stories."

"And what did you tell him?"

"That someone had taken you, but we were working very hard to bring you home."

"She's taken so much, Bryn. I don't want to be this way. You are my wife; flinching every time you touch me feels so wrong, so terrible, like I'm committing a small act of treason against you. Love and trust should be stronger than cruelty."

Brynja bent down to him and whispered, "May I kiss?" her face inches from his forehead. Loki nodded and she did, staying close over him as she spoke, "Love and trust are stronger than that- that's why you let me touch you at all. But the things others do scar us more deeply than we can control. You've been violated, your will stripped from you these past two weeks. I don't expect you to bounce back soon. I expect that it will take a long time for you to work through everything she did to you and everything she commanded you to do."

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her on top of him, holding her tightly, "Bless you, Little Witch. Not every man's wife could forgive him for trying to kill her, even if it was under the control of another person."

She nestled her face against his neck and felt him unintentionally tense, his breathing quickening. She stopped and pulled back, realising that there was a particularly dark bruise and multiple bite marks on the soft skin just under his jaw below his ear. She rested her head a little farther from his neck and lay perfectly still as he slowed his breathing. Once he was a little more calm, she rolled off of him and snuggled beside him on top of the blankets.

"Did you get my letter?" Brynja nodded. Loki took her hands in his, kissed her fingers, and brought her hands close to his heart. He fell asleep shortly after.

Brynja had nearly dozed off herself when there was a light knock on the door, "It's your kid, open up." She answered the door and found Katja standing there with a fussing Amundr in her arms, "He wouldn't take a nap and all he wants is to see his father. We've distracted him as long as we can." She handed the child to Brynja, "And I'm exhausted, so tell Loki we'll see him in the morning and I'm going to go crash."

As soon as the door was closed, Brynja brought her little boy to bed and tucked him close to Loki. Amundr curled up against him instantly, his little hand on his father's cheek. Loki woke only a little as Amundr wiggled to get comfortable and he wrapped his arm around his son.

Before sleeping, Brynja retrieved the letter that had arrived shortly after Loki had swung a sword at her and read it again.

_"My beloved Brynja,_

_"I am so sorry I could not stop this. I did not want to hurt anyone. I did not want to fight Sif, I did not want to harm you or Thor. Before the illusion vanished, when I thought I had killed Sunny, I was ready to throw myself on the sword, hoping that since Sigyn had not commanded me not to die, I could take back control in that way. I cannot bear this any longer and may yet try to end my life. She is going to break her word to keep you all safe and if I am dead, she has no reason to come after you, no 'me' left to hurt. _

_"My lips...she's sewn them closed as punishment for speaking to you. I don't know how I did it. Perhaps there was something of your Witchery, the magic that is fuelled by love itself, that threw off her spell. I only know that it took great effort to break through, but I hope you believe me. I am so so sorry. My heart breaks every time I see your face in my memory as I raised the blade against you._

_"I cannot know what you are planning. I heard someone, I think it was Sunny, speak in my mind to tell me that you are coming for me. Please don't. Sigyn has enchanted the thread to only be able to be cut by someone I love and she plans to kill every one of you who could raise a knife to the stitching. Stay away. Do not come here. I do not know how she plans on doing this, but her rage is terrible and I am at a loss as to how to escape this. I once again pray for death instead of captivity._

_"I love you, Brynja. Make sure the children know how much I love them and how proud I am of who they are. Sunny's sorcery is becoming so powerful and Katja's fighting is elegant and deadly. Amundr is growing so fast. I am afraid I will miss seeing him grow up. Make sure he remembers me. I need my son to know me after this has killed me._

_"I meant every word I said when I pledged myself to you. I know I have violated those vows so many times this week while under Sigyn's power, but please know I meant them in earnest and if I could undo every terrible thing that has happened these two weeks, I would. You are my beloved, my mate, the one who holds my heart. I beg your forgiveness knowing I do not deserve it._

_"I apologise if this paper is stained with my bloodied tears- it has only been a few moments since she finished slowly pushing the needle through my lips. I can only fight pain so well, especially when so many other hurts are on my heart and across my body. _

_"If she allows you my body once she has killed me, please bury me as we had discussed so long ago. 'And flights of Angels sing thee to thy rest.'_

_"Ever your prince,_

_Loki."_

The paper was marred by a few teardrops tinged with blood. Brynja folded the letter and placed it in her desk. She had heard what he believed were his last words far too many times. She hoped beyond hope that she did not have to hear them again until the end of his life.

Brynja joined her husband and son in bed and fell asleep quickly, exhausted from the day and feeling a bit overwhelmed by all that she was going to be dealing with as whatever bargain Loki had broken with Thanos finally came back to him.


	19. Chapter 19

In the morning, after Brynja had brushed Loki's hair, bathed and dressed Amundr, and made herself somewhat presentable, they joined the rest of the family, including Angrboda, for breakfast. No one seemed quite ready to talk about whatever Loki had endured during his captivity, their eyes darting back to their own meals if they were caught staring at his lips.

Sunny felt the tension in the room and carefully set down her fork before speaking, "There's an elephant in the room that we need to reveal before this gets any more uncomfortable."

Loki's face paled and Katja dropped her knife to her plate with a clatter as she said, "Finally."

Sunny continued, "You all keep staring at Loki. I've seen every one of you do it, I've done it myself. His lips were sewn shut. We all saw it. We all know that there was probably some kind of enchantment on the thread to make it harder to heal. Let's not make this harder by dancing around the subject. We're going to all say what we need to right now. I'll start. It looks horribly painful. I can't imagine what you're going through or what you went through...but I did see you right after she sewed them closed in the scrying bowl. I saw the blood and the tears and dear god, Loki, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I want to know what I can do to help, but I'm afraid there won't be much that could even come close to being enough. If she was willing to do that..." she let the sentence hang before turning to Odin on her left, "Your turn."

Odin sighed, "I don't know what to do, Loki. I know you were unkind to her so long ago, but this...Sunny said it best. What ever else she did, I can't imagine there's anything we can do to make it any easier for you. We will need to talk about what is coming, though. And I am not sure even we can stop it."

Thor continued, "The last time Thanos was sighted, it was in Midgard by the Avengers, all of whom have since passed from life. If he is behind Sigyn's sorcery, then I do not know what we can do to intervene. We will try, though, to keep more harm from coming to you. I cannot fathom what it feels like to have your lips sewn shut...and to have it done twice. You are far stronger than you credit yourself for, Little Brother."

Frigga added, "My son, the pain looks unbearable. Yet here you are, eating with us, talking with us."

It was Katja's turn, "What you did to Sigyn a century ago was terrible, so maybe you deserved a little of what you got, but damn...what the hell did she all do to you?"

Brynja was next to speak, "I'm just worried about you. I need to know you're surviving, I need to know you're here. Two weeks, Loki- you were missing for two weeks and all we saw of you was when you either were threatening someone or trying to kill them. It wasn't very reassuring. All of us knew you were under her spell, but all of us also had seen you that way before under your own power. It was hard to fight the sinking feeling that the worst days were repeating themselves."

Angrboda nodded, "I have only seen you from afar for many years, but I watched the ones you love struggle. I knew from their faces that something was very very wrong. I am now looking for the man I watched dance at his own wedding a few long weeks ago."

Freyja spoke last, "And I'm hoping she's really dead. I remember you once saying that once someone was in your mind, it was hard to shake them out again. This is not the first time someone has been in your brain, is it?"

Loki sighed, "No, it isn't. But The Other was different. I could say no, even if he would hurt me for it. What is worse is that I had two people under my control who could not. I have done what Sigyn did to me to two good Midgardian men. I wish I could tell them that I now realise how much harm I caused, but I cannot; they are dead. Sunny, I'm so sorry you saw what you did. But thank you for speaking to me. Your magic is powerful to have broken through the barriers Sigyn put up around me. Katja, I will not tell you what else she did to me. This was one of the most painful things, but not the most hurtful or humiliating. You do not need to know more, especially since I am even having a difficult time talking about it to your mother. Angrboda, I hope you can find him. I am looking for him, too. And Odin, Thor, I don't know what we can do to stop what is coming. Thanos is old, powerful, and fascinated by death. To seek death out is his obsession, to create it by setting up wars and to observe it. The Other is merely a messenger. I do not know if either can be killed."

Odin nodded, "We will take to the library later in the day to see what we can find on these forces. You are not going to face this enemy alone, Loki. While the choices that led you here were terrible, you have come back to the family and we do not let our own stand solitary in the force of great danger."

"Thank you, Allfather. I will tell what I know of them when we meet then. My lips are sore, though, and I would like to end this conversation before the pain is worse." Brynja took his hand below the table and he squeezed it as he went silent. In a few minutes, the conversation turned to other things and Loki was able to tune out a little to sort out his thoughts. Brynja kept her hand in his, hoping it was reassuring.

Late in the day, after Brynja had tried once again to heal his lips and had no luck and after they had curled up together for a short nap with Amundr, Loki went to the library to help look through the books for references they could use to defeat, or at least ward off, Thanos and The Other. He told them of the deal he made for the Tesseract- the coveted cube in exchange for his freedom to rule Midgard as he saw fit, the threats of torment beyond pain if he failed, and the use of the Chitauri to achieve these ends. Brynja sat beside him as he told the story, her hand on his back as he had requested before their arrival. For the sake of his pride, he had asked her to not continually be asking him if she could touch him publicly and instead had told her what she could do, or what he wanted her to do, in advance. She obliged, happy that he could cope with his situation by taking control of what she could touch of his body while they were together with the family. They had also worked out little signals and hesitations that would ask permission if the situation changed. Loki knew that the more perceptive members of the family would pick up on them, but he still preferred that she not ask out-loud unless absolutely necessary.

As he told about his experiences with the two beings, Sunny was mentally going through all the information she had received and cross-referencing them to the books she had read on off-realm history. Few of them mentioned anything beyond the nine realms, but there were hints that other creatures existed between realms. Obviously this was true, given that the Chitauri had been unknown to Asgard until their release on Midgard.

Something in her mind clicked, "Grandfather, isn't Thanos referenced in the index to your vault?"

"What do you mean, child?"

"Something in your vault was obtained from him...I don't remember anything else, but I do recall that it was incomplete."

Odin looked at his grandchild like she was a bit strange, "And why have you read the index to the vault?"

"You've got to know what tools you have if you're going to know when you need to use them. I figured after Loki was taken that I might be able to use something down there to free him. I skimmed it, but I thought I saw his name on there. And yes, I considered using something like the Cask of Ancient Winters to freeze Sigyn, but thought the better of it given her lust for power. Tools such as that should not be wielded around those who you cannot be certain will not take them from you."

Odin went to seek the index while Frigga and Freyja browsed the books they knew mentioned elder beings, some older than even Asgard.

Katja put her feet up on a table and asked, "So why the Tesseract?"

"What?" Loki asked.

"Why the Tesseract? What is it? Why did he want it?"

"I don't honestly know. I was just told that I was to get it, release the Chitauri onto Midgard, and then give it to him along with the sceptre he'd given me. I don't know where either are these days, though."

Thor spoke, "The sceptre was lost in Midgard. The Tesseract no longer resides in the vault. Many of the most powerful treasures were spread off-realm after the trouble someone went through to get them from us."

"Has the index been updated since then?" asked Sunny.

"Yes. And yet you still saw Thanos identified in the index?" Thor inquired. Sunny nodded, "Then we have something else we must move to a safer realm. I will not have something he is seeking in this palace, no matter the power it holds. We cannot take that risk."

Odin returned with the index and handed it to Sunny, "We will have better luck finding it if you can remember where you saw it."

"I know a better way." She closed her eyes, placed both hands flat on the book, her fingers dancing along the edges of the pages. She opened the book as she opened her eyes and read the items off on the page. She paused, her finger over one entry, "One gauntlet, gold. Belonged to Thanos when last united with all infinity gems. Known infinity gems- Orb, safely stowed. Aether, safely stowed. Tesseract, safely stowed. Others known to Asgard in unknown locations, their keepers responsible for informing Asgard if they have been lost. Assumed locations secret."

Thor pondered the situation, knowing that Thanos would always seek these, "It is possible he will be willing to trade the gauntlet for Loki. We cannot let him have this object- it will renew his quest for the other gems and the last time he had the set he wiped out half of all life in the universe. While I do not want Loki to needlessly suffer, we cannot allow Thanos access to that power again."

Odin spoke, "I will do, with the permission of my king, what I have done before and find it a suitable new home."

"Make it so. We do not know how much time we have before Thanos decides to collect on the debt Loki has incurred."

That night, Loki was struggling with memories and nightmares. When he woke for the third time sweating and shaking, he slipped from the bed and went to the windows, standing in the moonlight and looking out over the city.

Brynja joined him, roused by his absence, "What's going on?"

Loki crossed his arms over his chest against the chill of the night air, "Too many things in my head, Bryn. Nightmares that are merely memories of the past few weeks."

Brynja reached up to his cheek and paused, her hand only an inch from his skin, waiting; he brought his cheek to it, "I'm sorry, love. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Not that I can think of. I can't shake the memories." He kissed her wrist where it rested near his lips and then bent down to kiss her very carefully, his own lips still burning from the sores, their healing very slow.

When they paused to take a few breaths, she whispered, "Dance with me." He moved slowly, his knee still sore, "Take it slow, love. I don't need you to spin me dizzy, just to hold me and dance with me in the moonlight."

Loki kissed her again as they danced and she melted against him. He pressed her close, his eyes closed, and breathed deeply the scent of her hair. He let the memories that the smell brought to his mind linger- sleeping beside her in Jotunheim in the mornings after breakfast, waking with his head on her pillow after she had nearly died healing him, curling up beside her on the night before his execution, dancing close to her in the cell upon his return to Asgard, and the first time they made love, her skin then also bathed in moonlight. The memory of their first night with Amundr curled beside them, his scent mixing with hers, brought him closer to the present. Her warmth against him, dancing close, reminded him too of their wedding feast and of the moment when everyone else felt so distant as they danced together for the first time as a married couple, their faces close, her voice whispering the lyrics to the song to him between kisses.

Loki slowed their dance to a stop and wrapped both arms around her, "You will be my salvation yet again, my love. I cannot say when, or how, I will heal from Sigyn's rage. I can say that the memories you have made with me are powerful and I will survive this."

Brynja smiled as she rested her head on his shoulder, careful to avoid the mark on his neck, "Shall we go back to bed?"

"Not quite, Bryn. Not quite. I need to seek out Thor. As a child, when I could not sleep from nightmares, I often sought the comfort of my older brother's arms for the night. When Sigyn took you, I spent the first night in over a century in his bed, a safety with him that I desperately needed in order to not do something incredibly rash. I need to talk to him again tonight. I will return to you before morning, be assured, but for a few hours, I need to be a small child again, taking refuge with my brother."

"Of course. I understand. If you need this in the future, please make sure you tell me when you leave- I'd be terrified if I were to wake up and find you missing."

Loki thanked her and went to Thor's room, gently knocking on the door, hoping he was still awake. Thor answered the door and gestured for Loki to enter. Once again, Loki sat down in the overstuffed chair and Thor sat across from him.

"What is it you need at this hour, Little Brother?"

"I'm having nightmares, Thor. But everything in them is true. I love Brynja and the comfort of her bed...but as I told her, for a few hours, I need to be that small child I once was, curled up with my older brother."

Thor nodded and went to turn down the blankets as Loki followed him into the bedroom. Loki slipped under the blankets and turned towards Thor, curling up beside his brother. Thor gently patted Loki's back.

"Wake me just before dawn so I may return to Brynja. I do not want her to fear that I have again been taken if she wakes and does not remember our conversation."

Thor smiled and cuddled with Loki, "I will make sure you return safely to her bed."

Loki drifted off quickly, Thor waiting to fall asleep until he saw Loki's breathing deepen and his body relax. He was happy to do anything he could to help Loki heal from the weeks of abuse, even if it meant getting a little less sleep at night.


	20. Chapter 20

The Other first appeared to Loki in his dreams three years after Sigyn's tortures had ended. Loki had finally started to feel a little more like himself- like he had control once again of his own body and his own destiny, able to let his wife touch him without his explicit permission and without continually flinching, the flashbacks and nightmares finally fading in frequency to the point where they would only happen once a month at most- when the familiar menacing voice told him that he had precious little time before he would be brought before Thanos. Loki asked how he would be collected and The Other simply said it would be when he least expected it. Loki asked to come willingly. Shocked, The Other accepted and they set a date in a week's time.

The next morning he broke the news to Brynja as they bathed together and she broke down sobbing, clinging to him, knowing full well there was no escape this time. He did not know how to comfort her, instead held her tightly and tried to keep himself from breaking down along with her. Loki explained to his son that he would be leaving, but not because he wanted to, and the child could not be consoled. At breakfast, she was silent, waiting for him to break the news to the rest of the family while Amundr cried on her lap. When he did, the reactions were not quite what he had predicted. Katja left, angry, without saying anything. Sunny cried over her plate without speaking. Frigga and Freyja held one another like sisters and Frigga sobbed. Odin placed a hand on his wife's back and bowed his head, silent. Thor walked over to Loki and asked what he could do to make things easier for him and Loki only asked that Thor take care of his wife and the children.

Mid week, Sunny came to her parents and asked to stay with them so she could spend their last few days together as a family. She also revealed a plan she had been mulling on.

"I do not believe The Other will take you directly to Thanos. I think he seeks revenge of his own first. We will not allow this. I have been speaking to the other witches. Angrboda wishes to accompany you to see you to Thanos safely. She believes her skill set makes her an excellent escort. Over the next few days, I am going to try to see through your eyes so that I can see what you see and report to the family what happens to you, both to make sure your journey is safe and to keep an eye on you through the years to see if we can find a way to rescue you." Sunny paused and looked Loki in the eyes, her face serious, "You don't have a choice in this matter. Your other option is that we bind you and refuse to let you go, drawing out The Other, killing him, and luring Thanos here for a fight. Both you and I know that would not end well for anyone involved, but if you resist our other plan, we are willing to do this as well." She knew she was on shaky territory, taking away Loki's ability to choose his fate, but given that she only had a few days left before she would lose him entirely, it was a risk she was willing to take.

Brynja sighed and lowered her head, "I can't convince you otherwise, can I?"

"No."

Loki nodded, "I will allow you to go ahead with your plan. Just please, if things get unpleasant, know that I will do everything I can to block you from my mind. I know that what Thanos seeks to do to me will be terrible. I will not let you see it."

"Then we have an agreement?"

"Yes, we do."

Sunny let go of his hand and threw her arms around his neck, "Thank you. I'm going to miss you so much."

He held her tight and whispered back, "I have so much to thank you for over the years, little one. I will hold you in my heart no matter what fate I meet."

Sunny had tears in her eyes, "I should have been calling you Father for all these years and it's only been these last few that I've considered it. I never wanted to hurt Fandral, but you did just as much, if not more, to raise me than he did."

"I wish your sister felt the same way."

Sunny sat back and wiped her eyes, "Katja does. She just doesn't know how to lose you again to something that is the result of a choice made long ago. She's still angry about nearly losing you to Sigyn. I've tried to talk to her, to tell her she's only got a few more days, but all she does is shuts down when I try to get her to come visit. She's scared, she's sad, she's angry at you, and she feels guilty about her anger. I'll get her to speak to you before you're gone, I promise."

Brynja placed an arm around Loki and leaned her head on his shoulder, "I can't believe this family is going to be broken by this, after all we've survived."

Loki stroked his wife's hair, "You will carry on, my love. You and the children, your parents, your brother, the friends we've made along the way. The family will not end, you will go on without me. Who knows, perhaps in time you will even remarry. You will see the girls into new lives as they take lovers, have children, and find adventures of their own. You will see Amundr grow into a young man, and you will see Thor's reign bring prosperity to the realms. Just because I will not be here to see it does not mean you will end."

Sunny brought Amundr over to sit with them and he cuddled up on his father's lap, Sunny and Brynja on either side.

The day Loki had set to leave, he took breakfast with everyone in the family except Katja, handed each of them letters he had written the night before, and hoped that Katja would at least say goodbye. He was ready to leave, standing on the Bifrost, dressed in his armour with Angrboda by his side, when Katja slipped past the others in the family and ran to him, throwing herself in his arms.

"Father...," she whispered as she held him tightly.

Loki kissed the top of her head, "Thank you for coming, Katja."

"I'm sorry I missed this week," she replied.

"I understand, my child. I need you to do one thing for me while I'm gone."

"Anything."

"Make sure Amundr grows up knowing that his father was a warrior of his own kind, not like his uncle, but still one who fought for those well loved."

"I will."

"I must be leaving, Katja. Please go back with the family. I do not want you accidentally dragged along with me. Know that you girls have always made me proud."

As Katja stepped back from Loki and Angrboda, a dark curtain descended from above and enveloped the pair. When it lifted, they were gone. Katja dropped to the Bifrost and let out an anguished scream.

Sunny sat beside her to comfort her and handed her a letter, "He left each of us a note."

Katja took it and hesitated to open it, "Did you read yours yet?"

"No. I will, soon, but first I have work to do."

Katja looked puzzled, "Work?"

"Yes. He and I have an agreement. I am going to see through his eyes while he is travelling and at least until he is before Thanos. I want to make sure The Other does not do anything to him that breaks his agreement with Thanos."

"You're looking for loopholes," Katja said with a small smile at the corner of her lips.

"Always."

"You're so much like him, Sunny. So much like him."

Loki arrived with Angrboda in front of The Other on a barren rocky plain with stars above foreign to both of them.

The Other looked from Loki to Angrboda, curious, "What is this creature's purpose here?"

"Angrboda is here to make sure that I am escorted directly to Thanos. That was our bargain, was it not? That I would be _his_ if I did not deliver what he wanted?"

The Other smiled viciously, "Eventually, yes." He turned to Angrboda, "First, though, I am going to have to be rid of her. We have no time for distractions."

Angrboda shrugged, "Do what you must, but do not underestimate Jotunheim's witch."

The Other attempted to lash out at her with a whip of energy but she easily deflected it, throwing daggers of ice at him in return.

Loki tried to intervene, but she put up a wall of energy and blocked him from moving forward, "I have one mission here- you will not compromise it." He found himself in a box, unable to join her in the fight.

He watched in awe and horror as she unleashed every ounce of viciousness she could muster on The Other. He felt Sunny in his mind watching as well. He considered shutting her out to protect her from whatever death was imminent, but decided that she would withdraw on her own if she could not handle what she was seeing.

The Other was strong, but Angrboda's witchcraft was up to the challenge. Loki remembered something Sunny had said while removing the stitches from his lips- the magic of Jotunheim used pain to its advantage. Every time The Other hurt her, she used the pain to weaken him a little more.

With ice spines on her arms, her hands turned into blades, Angrboda charged The Other and broke through his shielding spells. When she hit him, he grabbed her head and began to squeeze, causing excruciating pain that ripped through her skull. She roared, driving the spikes into him, shredding his armour and the flesh under it. As her pain increased, so did his, the blades of ice on her hands gouging chunks from his back. She could not draw back, so she used her spells to slowly push the ice through him. The Other used the motivation to try to kill her faster. Finally, she bit his throat and tore it again and again, slowly decapitating him. He tore his hands from her skull and drove daggers into her back.

Watching the blood run from both of them, Loki knew neither would survive. He carefully pushed Sunny back, keeping her from seeing the worst of the fight. He tested the edges of his confinement and discovered they were as strong now as they had been to begin with.

When both Angrboda and The Other collapsed dead, he let Sunny return to his eyes and he stepped up to them both, the spell confining him gone. He gently closed Angrboda's eyes and kissed her forehead, thanking her. He stood up and called to Thanos, asking him when he would come and gather him as they had agreed. A few moments later, a blue-tinged beam of light enveloped Loki and brought him to where Thanos sat enthroned.

Loki knelt before his former master, "I know you seek the death of others and the death of many often pleases you...but I beg you to spare my family. Family may mean nothing to you, having killed yours, but it means so much to me. Even if you must take me, leave them alone. My choices are mine and not theirs, they have lives to lead that will far surpass mine in their elegance and grace."

"You owe me something for the Tesseract. You failed. We had a bargain. I promised you far more than pain if you were not to deliver what you said you would."

"You controlled Sigyn, did you not?"

"Yes. She was a good servant."

"Then you have already broken me more than torture could have. You have stripped me of my dignity, humiliated me, taken the illusion I so carefully crafted to keep my Jotun heritage secret from Asgard. I cannot walk the streets of the only place I have left to call home. In addition to all this, you took from me what should have been the most joyful weeks of my marriage, instead replacing the warmth and kindness I should have felt in my wife's touch with memories instead of touch without my willingness, of hands violating my body, and destroying my ability to release myself to the woman I love more dearly than my own life. Is this not enough? Could you possibly take anything more from me, having broken my spirit and destroyed my soul?" Loki asked, his head bowed, his voice soft and sad.

"I could kill you just to watch how you die- I have not seen an Asgardian fall."

Loki shifted to the form he was born with, "Did you not watch Sigyn die?" Thanos paused and Loki knew that he had, "Then you have seen an Asgardian fall...and I am not of Asgard, as she so pointedly forced me to reveal to the entire realm. And you have seen one of Jotunheim fall. Angrboda is dead and I know you were watching. I am nothing new to you. Would it not be more satisfying for you to watch me live, trying to recover from the blows you have dealt? You have killed my pride, you have broken my spirit. I am an experiment to observe until I self-destruct."

"I will allow you to leave if you will retrieve me the Tesseract."

"I cannot give you that. Thor has long since moved it from Asgard. I do not know where it is, nor can I seek it out for you."

"Then the gauntlet itself."

"I cannot retrieve what has disappeared from my realm. I cannot travel freely to other realms, this you know. Midgard has long since been denied me, Jotunheim as well, and Vanaheim not welcoming, either. I cannot return to Svartalfheim. Thor and Odin both keep me under watch and my sorcery is no match for that of the child I have raised far more powerful than I. I cannot seek what I cannot survive the journey to find."

"Then you will remain here and you will die. You will be an experiment, yes, one where I test just how far the limits of your body and your magic can endure."

Loki's heart sank, "So long as my family is left alone."

"That I will do for you."

"Thank you for that small mercy."

Thanos rose and approached Loki, dragging him to his feet by his throat, "Then let us begin the tests."


	21. Chapter 21

Brynja waited for word of Loki from Angrboda but heard nothing. She went to Freyja seeking help and found Sunny in the Witching Rooms, tears in her eyes.

Brynja knew something was terribly wrong, "Tell me. What's happened?"

Sunny spoke slowly, "Thanos has promised not to touch us. Angrboda is dead. So is The Other. She fought well. Loki is trapped, though, caught in the deal he made for Midgard, unable to deliver what he promised. He will not be coming home."

Brynja sank to the bench beside her daughter, "All this and he's still gone." Her heart was heavy, "Did you tell anyone else yet?"

"No. Not even Freyja. I did everything I could to protect them both and still failed."

"How did she die?"

"She killed The Other as he killed her. Neither could have survived."

"Then you did not fail. Angrboda saw the only way to end him and chose her opportunity. Loki cannot undo the deal he made so long ago. He has to live with the consequences of his actions. We will wait and watch and if there is anything we can do, we will step in. Until then, he guaranteed our safety, correct?"

"Yes."

Brynja sighed as she began to cry, "Then we wait. We wait for our opportune moment."

Sunny held onto her mother, her tears thick, "And what if it never comes? What if we never get him back?"

"Then we remember the love and we hold tight to those memories. We don't have any other option, Sunny."

Katja entered, wondering why she had not seen her sister in so long; she froze as she saw their tears, "I take it the news isn't good."

Brynja answered, "No. Angrboda is dead, killed while killing The Other. Thanos will not return Loki if he cannot deliver the treasures he seeks."

Katja dropped down on to the bench and curled up next to Brynja, her knees tucked to her chest, "So what happens to him now? What will Thanos do to him?"

Sunny replied softly, "Torture him to the limits that he can without killing him. Thanos sees this as an experiment in death."

"And we can't stop him?"

"No." Sunny whispered. Soon both girls were crying on their mother's shoulders. Brynja knew she had to tell her son, too, that his father was not coming home and had no idea how to tell the small child what was happening. For a few minutes, though, she simply held her daughters and cried with them.


	22. Chapter 22

Brynja wore black for many years after Loki was taken. The years went by more slowly than she believed they could, but life continued without him.

As the first century passed, Brynja watched Katja fall in love with her friend from Vanaheim, Hiram, nephew to Hogun, their courtship quick and passionate. They were married in a small ceremony with only their family present, both Freyja and Thor presiding over the wedding combining the traditions of Vanaheim and Asgard. The feast after was also much smaller than Brynja and Loki's had been, the couples' friends joining them in celebration. Katja moved to Vanaheim and rose through the ranks of their military quickly, becoming one of their only woman warriors, teaching the soldiers under her command some of the things that Sif had taught her.

Nari and Vali spent more and more time with Brynja's family and she treated them as her own sons, so much older than her daughters but, once no longer afraid of their mother's anger, as playful as their father. While neither of them looked particularly like him, they moved with an inherited grace and there were moments when Brynja would see him in a flash of a mischievous grin or in a mannerism that seemed uncannily familiar.

Through the second and third centuries of Loki's captivity, Sunny began to wander as her mother had done, living in multiple realms, taking lovers where she found them and bearing two children, a son she named Idris, whose father was from Jotunheim, and a daughter she named Miranda, whose father was of Svartalfheim. She always returned to Asgard, though, or to the hills of New York where she had felt so at home with her mother so many years before. Her children grew up graceful, even if they were a little different than the other children in Asgard, both of them excelling in the magical arts of their mother.

During the third century, Thor finally began to take an interest in marriage, entering into courtship with Sif. As the fourth century of Loki's torment began, Sif and Thor announced their wedding date and the entire realm prepared for the elaborate celebration that would take place with the marriage of the king.

Brynja had not worn anything not black since she lost Loki. She stood in her chambers with Sunny on the morning of Thor's wedding ceremony staring at the dress she had chosen to wear. He had insisted that she request a gown that had some colour to it and she had obliged.

Sunny was wearing her dress that was the the colours of fire. She held up her mother's gown, the velvet shining in the morning light.

"It's been how many years I've worn only the colour of mourning?"

"Far too many. I understand your reason, but he would want you to express yourself as you always have."

As the dress draped down her body, Brynja smoothed the fabric and sighed while Sunny swiftly fastened the tiny buttons that ran down the back, "I know. It just hasn't felt right yet."

Sunny only occasionally told Brynja that Loki was still alive. She never described what she saw when she looked through his eyes. She did not want Brynja to have to know what it was her beloved endured.

"He would love this gown," Sunny said as she sat her mother down to do her hair. The dress draped to the floor, trailing behind her, the green velvet of the sides and back broken up only by a long black panel down the front. The wide sleeves, square neckline, and hem were all trimmed in gold knot work embroidered on black ribbon. Sunny twisted her mother's hair and pinned it up the same way that Loki had done for their wedding and then she went to the jewel box on Brynja's desk. She opened it and held it out, "Thor requested that I make sure you looked like the crown princess of Asgard today. I suggest you wear these."

Brynja stared at the glittering gems, "The last time I wore these..."

"Was at your own wedding. Now your brother is to be wed and he would like to see you so shining. I think it would also be a suitable tribute to your husband," Sunny finished.

Brynja took the earrings from the box and pushed them through the lowermost holes in her earlobes. Sunny placed the necklace of diamonds and emeralds around her neck and fastened the clasp.

Sunny turned her around, "Now, Mother, you look regal. Father would be delighted."

"He would be, wouldn't he? I'd be lucky to get to the wedding on time if he could see me now."

Sunny smirked, "Or at all. We'd be waiting to start the procession all day." Brynja giggled. Someone knocked on the door and a young man called from the other side, "Mother, we're due in the hall very shortly. Are you ready? Katja says I am to threaten you with something delightfully embarrassing if you don't come out dressed and ready very soon."

Brynja opened the door to find her son on the other side, the green and black leather of his armour gleaming, the silver and gold plates shining in the morning light.

She stepped out of the room and touched his cheek, "You look so much like your father and your grandfather both. He would be so proud to see you wearing his colours today."

Amundr smiled, his green eyes sparkling, "As I am sure he would you...Sunny told me that he would quite possibly not have let you left your chambers this morning if he were to see you in this dress."

Brynja blushed, "Oh hush...and yes, she told me the same thing. Come now, we can't keep Thor waiting, can we? Has he started pacing yet?"

"He started that an hour ago." Amundr offered both his sister and his mother his arm and escorted them to the throne room.

Sunny beamed, her long golden hair plaited around her head, the braids set with crystals. She was excited for her uncle's wedding and happy to see her mother both smiling and wearing something other than only black.

When they reached the hall, Sunny went to check on her two grown children while Amundr escorted Brynja to their place in the procession. Sunny then went to her own place in the line next to Fandral, who smiled and patted her arm.

Fandral whispered to Sunny, "Your mother looks stunning today. Is she doing well this morning?"

"We managed to make her both laugh and blush, so I think yes. She's sad not to have Loki here escorting her, but she is so proud to stand beside their son. Amundr is so grown up and so handsome in his formal armour."

Fandral's smile grew, "Ah, I remember the first time Loki stood beside his mother in court formally dressed. He was so excited to be there, he couldn't stop smiling, even when he was supposed to be solemn. Frigga was so proud of him, so happy to have raised a confident, smart, talented young man. Just as your mother is."

The fanfare played and everyone fell into line, attendants fussing over garments and making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be. At the head of the line, Odin and Freyja stood in their splendour as the priests of the ceremony. Thor stood with his mother after them. He was fidgeting.

Frigga placed her arm in his and looked up at him, "My son, be calm. This may be a big day, but it is _your_ big day. So long as you remember to tell your bride you love her, there is nothing that can go wrong. Everyone will write off any forgotten moments in the ceremony as the nervousness of a groom so in love that he cannot think straight. Your father forgot half his vows. No one but me even remembers that."

Thor smiled at the story, "Thank you, Mother."

Behind them, Volstagg and his wife were followed by Hogun and his sister. Fandral and Sunny came next, Katja and Hiram. Brynja and Amundr brought up the rear of the procession. There would be a space after their entrance, Miranda and Idris entering as attendants to the bride, Idris offering Sif his arm and Miranda following behind carrying the train of her red and gold silk gown.

The fanfare played again and the large doors opened, the assembled court and rulers from many realms turning to watch as the royal family entered together, everyone happy to finally be welcoming a queen to the throne of Asgard.

The feasting and dancing that followed lasted for an entire week. Brynja did her best to fill her royal role, dancing with the right people, making casual conversation with the ambassadors from other realms, and fielding the ever-present question of just when both Sunny and Amundr would find themselves making their way to the altar. Sunny, she always answered, was a wanderer like she once was and her heart would find its home in time. She would often remind those who asked that question just how long it took her to find her beloved. When the question was about Amundr, she would remind them of how young he truly was- not even five centuries- and that he had plenty of time to seek his lover, there was no need to rush. She would hold up Thor as an example, his first love on Midgard coming well after he was Amundr's age. Not even Odin had wed Frigga that young.


	23. Chapter 23

As the next century began, Brynja felt something change and she could not place her finger on what. She woke up one morning with the chill in her spine that was her Witchery telling her something was not quite right. She brought her concern to Sunny after breakfast and Sunny brought her up to Loki's study. Sunny sat before the scrying bowl, poured the water in it, and gazed into it.

"This only works once in a while when Thanos' realm is close enough. I don't see anything today. Father has been keeping me from seeing through his eyes lately. I don't take that as a bad sign, though, since it means he is still strong enough to push me out." What she did not tell Brynja was that it could also simply mean that Loki no longer had the strength to open his eyes. It was just one more secret she kept.

Brynja had brought her small crystal globe with her and set it on the table next to the bowl, "I haven't used this in many years, but it was once my speciality." She concentrated on Loki and searched for him in the glass, but all she saw was fog and darkness, "Nothing," she said, disappointed.

"It was worth a try. Perhaps it wasn't about Father. Maybe the feeling is for something else all together."

"I know, I was just hoping..."

Sunny took her mother's hand, "I know. So was I."

Meanwhile, Thanos watched Loki as he lay on the cold rock, his clothing long since destroyed, his hair thinning, his body barely more than skin stretched over a skeleton. He'd stopped feeding his prisoner nearly a century before, keeping him alive on magic and the minimum amount of water that it took for him to survive. Loki was finally dying.

Loki had spent the first century hoping against all hope that he would somehow be rescued. That Sunny's brilliance with sorcery would deliver him a miracle. When he had finally given up on that unrealistic dream, he had relived memories from his childhood beginning with a very early memory of being so small, Brynja not many years older helping him up into a tall tree, the bark rough on his young hands, her body warm against his as they cuddled on the branch and he marvelled at what the realm looked like from his new vantage point. He detached from the torture his body endured and tried to live only in his memories, using his own magic to fight against Thanos' corruption of his remembrances while also trying to keep Sunny from seeing the worst of his punishments, gently pushing her from his mind when he knew she was watching and the pain was too brutal. His fatherly protectiveness of the sensitive young child he had met in Jotunheim was still strong even while being tortured. Now, though, as his breaths came in gasps, he could not hold on to the memories very well, the cold of the stone beneath him all too real, all too present. He also could not push out Sunny as she tried to see through his closed eyes. He was dying, he knew that, and he did not want his daughter to know. He had no way to stop her, though, his sorcery far too weak.

Thanos called to death, in any form, hoping to gain the attention of whatever death was these days and to get it to manifest at his feet. A Jotun prince seemed a fair sacrifice to attract the attention of such a creature.

Loki's eyes were closed, his breathing only a rattle, when he whispered, "Hela..."

She heard. Sitting in her hall, she knew that her father was dying and that there was little chance he would be claimed by those who took warriors slain in battle to a glory beyond. She sighed, she took those who died from illness and old age, from starvation and exposure. Every death in the realms that was attributed to these things echoed in her head. She largely blocked out their voices, still welcoming them to rest in her realm, but unwilling to let every voice speak to her as it died, knowing that they would only overwhelm her. This world of hers was not on the same plane of existence as Asgard or Midgard, Svartalfheim, Jotunheim, or Vanaheim. There were few ways to get to her halls other than to die.

Hela rose from her desk, all the letters her father had sent her in the few years they had been able to write stacked neatly in front of her alongside letters from Vali and Nari, Katja and Sunny. She had felt his death coming a few days before and had re-read them, carefully taking in each word, happy to have found in those letters a family who loved her, even if they did not know her, especially after the death of her mother. She walked through her halls to a dimly lit chamber containing a stone arch in which shimmered a nearly transparent veil, the barrier between her world, the world of the dead, and the world outside, the world of the living.

"Show me Loki Laufeyson." The veil obliged and she saw his body shudder as he struggled to breathe, "This will end soon." She stepped through the veil, her garments taking on its glimmer as she did, a goddess with shining hair, half black, half white that floated around her like a halo. Her body was equally divided as Jotun and Death itself, her soft grey dress trailing behind her as she stepped with bare feet onto the cold rock of Thanos' world.

Thanos stared at her as she approached Loki and crouched down to brush his cheek, "This will be over soon, I promise." His eyes opened briefly and he nearly smiled with what little energy he had left.

Thanos called to her, "Are you the goddess they call death?"

Hela stood and stepped towards him, "In one way, yes. I am Hela of Niflheim. I take souls that have long suffered into my halls so they may rest."

"And you will take him soon?"

"Yes." Thanos briefly bowed his head to her, "Lady, might I watch you work?"

She tipped her head, curious as to what he expected to see, "I do not hide what I do when I retrieve a soul. Of course you will see me."

His grin grew wider, "I have worshipped you for many years, goddess. I look forward to witnessing your art in person. Please, tell me you have found favour with me."

"Thanos, my art is the relief from pain so many of my souls desperately need when they reach my doors. You have done nothing to help ease suffering. You have caused so much of it."

He protested, "I have made offerings, sacrifices, to you!"

She sighed sadly, "I am surrounded by death every day and have been for the few thousand years I have been living. What joy would I take in having someone take more lives, send me more pain? Thanos, if you wish to send me tribute, do not give me unhappy souls. Spend your life spreading peace, alleviating suffering, feeding the hungry, sheltering and clothing those who would otherwise die from a lack thereof. What can I do with more death other than simply do as I have always done, the gates to my hallowed halls open to those who seek comfort?" She was stern, her usually distant and ethereal voice harsh as she turned her back to him and approached Loki, "And why would I grant favour to the one who has caused the death of both my mother and my father?"

"But Lady..."

She ignored him, crouching down beside Loki and gently touching his cheek, "Just another moment and I will take you." Hela watched Loki's last breath as he drew it into his lungs and as it came out a sigh. She gathered him in her long arms and lifted him as though he were as light as a child. As she walked back in the direction she came, she addressed Thanos once more, "If you want to please me, do not make my job harder. Change your life and it will change mine." With that, she vanished and stepped back through the veil into her own halls.

Thanos sat silently, wondering just what his life was if this Lady of Death did not want his skills to provide her with souls- causing death was one of the few things he was good at.

Hela carried her father to a long stone table and set him down, her attendants straightening his body and draping it with a soft grey cloth; she spoke as the translucent matter that made up his soul drifted from his body and collected above it, "You have a choice, Father. It is rare someone leaves these halls, but not impossible. I have the power to grant you life if you wish it. All your memories, all your suffering, it will stay with you, but I could deliver you to Asgard, given time. Your other option is to stay here in my hallowed halls until your memories faded and only the impressions of them remained, your feelings from moments of love and peace lasting the longest until your soul was ready to be reborn in the realm of your choosing. I leave this up to you. I would be happy to have you here, finally at rest, but because you are my father, I will grant you life if you wish it." Loki's soul did not move. Hela sensed a hesitation and continued, "If you decide to die and rest, I will take your body to Asgard and deliver it to your wife that she may bury you as you wished."

Loki's soul drifted farther from his body and began to spread thin. Hela watched, wondering just which choice he would make, "Take your time...take as much time as you wish. Death is infinite, if you wish it- we can wait." The soul gathered back together and slowly sank back into the body below.

Hela gestured to her attendants, "You know how to tell if his mind is made. I will be in my study."

Sunny had been trying to access Loki's eyes long after her mother had left the tower room. She saw Hela and she knew that her mother's Witchery had indeed been about Loki. Sunny went to the desk and quickly wrote a letter, watching it vanish in smoke and hoping it reached its intended recipient quickly.

Hela was sitting down at her desk when a letter appeared in a puff of grey on her desk. She opened it and read it quickly.

_"Hela,_

_"I've been watching through Father's eyes for centuries. I have seen terrible things, but have also been able to send him images of life here in the hopes that it would help him just a little. Today I saw you. Is this finally Father's end? I do not want to tell Mother unless I am absolutely certain. She still yearns for him and believes he may yet be saved. "Send word when you can._

_"Sunny."_

Hela heard a knock on the door and turned to see one of her attendants, "What news do you have?"

The attendant bowed, "He has made up his mind. We have work to do."

Hela dismissed her visitor and wrote a few lines back to Sunny, _"I do not have news for you yet. Be strong, there is yet hope."_


	24. Chapter 24

Hela sent word to Asgard a year later and gave the royal family a week's notice of her arrival. Brynja wrote a quick letter in return asking if he was living or dead but did not hear anything in reply. Thor did not know if he was planning a welcoming party or a funeral and so planned neither. On the day of Hela's arrival, they gathered in the throne room after supper and waited, anxious, to see if Hela brought with her a living body or a dead one.

Nari and Vali occupied themselves with a game of chess, trying to hide their nervousness by concentrating on the game. Miranda and Idris watched, both still learning the game their mother had brought back from Midgard, one of many board games that Nari and Vali had quickly taken to while Miranda and Idris had excelled in sorcery, often forgetting that there was a world outside of magic.

Sunny sat with Katja, Hiram, and Amundr and tried to make small conversation while they waited. Sif tried to keep her husband from pacing and had little success, Thor sitting only for a minute before getting to his feet and immediately moving to another part of the room, pacing for a few moments, settling briefly, and repeating the process. Frigga, Freyja, and Odin sat with Brynja, who stared at the ring Loki had given her when he proposed, absentmindedly turning it on her finger.

They heard a trumpet sound and watched an oddly shaped carriage sail by the windows. It landed gracefully on the balcony on the far end of the throne room and slipped silently into the room, its occupants still hidden from view. The carriage turned sideways and the door slid open, Hela stepping out followed by three figures in long grey robes, their faces hidden from view, their hands even hidden by their sleeves.

Hela gestured for them to follow her as she stepped forward, "My friends. Father came to my halls a year ago and I gave him a choice. He could choose death and the release it brings, all his pain dissipating as those memories strong in love lasted the longest and wrapped his soul in their healing power. He could also choose to return to the land of the living, everything he had experienced still with him, still able to haunt him- including every moment from the centuries of torture he endured. It took him a very short time to decide, but it took us more time to bring him to where he needed to be to move on in the direction he chose."

Brynja had risen when Hela had first approached, Amundr coming close behind her; when Hela stopped speaking, he took her hand, "Are you all right, Mother?"

"I will be once I know one way or another."

Hela gestured for one of the figures behind her to step forward, turning to face him as she did, "Are you ready?"

The figure reached up and drew back his hood, Brynja recognising him by the ring he wore before his hood was down. Loki revealed himself cautiously, his face gaunt, but no longer skeletal.

Brynja let go of her son's hands and approached him, but stopped short a few feet in front of him, "Is this real? Are you really here?"

Loki nodded and looked around at the rest of the family, "And you?"

"Yes," Amundr answered, "We're all here."

Loki's eyes locked with those of his son, identical to his, "Amundr? How you've grown, my child..."

Brynja took a few steps closer and reached out to touch his face, her hand pausing, not sure if she was permitted, "It's been five hundred years, darling."

He closed the distance between them and took her hand, resting it against his cheek, "And I have held you in my heart every day, my love."

She tipped her face up to his, barely whispering, "May I?" He did not answer, but kissed her instead.

The rest of the family had risen and moved closer, hoping each to greet Loki in turn, but they watched, smiling, as Loki kissed Brynja, relaxing into her arms after, his head on her shoulder as he held her close.

Frigga, not wanting to interrupt the moment, quietly asked Hela, "Is he safe from Thanos? We won't lose him again, will we?"

"I doubt Thanos will give you trouble. He has disappeared since this goddess of death rebuffed his offering and told him to stop sending her more suffering souls. I will keep an eye on him when he resurfaces. The veil will show me when I need to find him."

Frigga stepped over to her son and rested a hand on his shoulder, "Loki...we'd nearly given up hope that you would return in our lifetimes." Odin was at his wife's side, nodding in agreement. Loki kissed Brynja on the cheek and then turned to Frigga, stepping into her embrace. He stepped back from her and turned to Odin and did the same. Katja followed, introducing him to Hiram. Hiram, quite unlike his uncle, hugged Loki and told him it was good to finally meet him.

Freyja took Loki in her arms and whispered, "You have been so missed here. Do not think we all just moved forward without you. We have been searching, waiting, and hoping."

"Memories of home are a great part of what sustained me."

Frigga stepped back to allow Thor to step in; he held his brother as tightly as he dared, hoping not to break him, "Little Brother...how I missed having you beside me as I wed my dear Queen. I am so glad to have you home." Thor tried to step back to introduce Sif as his wife, but Loki did not let go and Thor paused, tempering his own enthusiasm for the fact that he could finally tell his brother all about his wedding and his wife to instead let his brother rest in his embrace longer. Thor rested his head against Loki's, softly saying, "My heart has ached with your absence for far too long."

"I relived our childhood- all of my memories- to survive. I cannot believe I threw you away so easily. Please forgive me for the years I was so unkind."

"I did many years ago, even before you were taken from us, but the years have reminded me how precious our brotherhood is."

Katja gently chided Thor, "Hey, Mr Touchy-Feely...you guys can continue the brotherly love-fest later- he's back, remember? Let Sunny have a turn."

Thor chuckled at her request, introduced Sif as his wife, and she briefly hugged Loki before they both stepped aside to let Sunny approach, her two children behind her.

Sunny stepped into Loki's arms and whispered, "I knew a year ago. I saw Hela come to collect you."

"I have no doubt you saw far more than you let anyone know about."

She held him tightly, "Yes. Know that if you need someone to talk to, I know more than I will ever let be known."

"Thank you, Sunny. We will see how I feel as time goes on."

Sunny stepped back and turned to her two children, "These are your grandchildren- Idris and Miranda. Idris is partly of Jotunheim. Miranda partly of Svartalfheim. I inherited Mother's wanderlust."

Loki embraced each, "Miranda and Idris. Beautiful names. And do you also call Fandral grandfather?"

Miranda nodded, "Yes. Family is not limited to blood. Our wanderings in other realms have most certainly reinforced what this motley family has taught us."

Idris smiled, "You've been gone our entire lives, yet I feel like we at least know you a little. We have heard stories from everyone here. Stories of struggle, of bravery, and of love and pain. I am very happy to finally meet you, Grandfather."

Loki was a bit speechless, but managed to say, "I hope that the stories have painted me in the fullest light possible- there are some in this realm who would tell only the worst of me."

Nari and Vali stepped in beside their nephew and niece, "Don't worry," Nari said, "We've been very good at making sure that our stories are true and truthful."

Vali continued, "And while we have very little of stories to tell, we have been listening carefully at the feet of those who have told so much more of your life than we knew."

Nari smiled, "And we have come to know you through these things as well. Your darkest days do not outshine the love you have shared with your family."

Loki hugged his older sons, "You have stayed here in Asgard?"

"Yes," Vali answered, "It is our home."

"Home is where love is and we have found it here, freely given, happily received," Nari continued.

Loki was feeling a bit overwhelmed by his family's welcome when Amundr stepped up to him, "Father."

Loki stared into bright green eyes so like his own, "You have my eyes."

Amundr embraced his father, "And your dark hair- a feature many of Asgard's young ladies seem particularly attracted to."

Loki chuckled, "And I suppose that has been a boon to you?"

"And a bane. One can only deal with so many young girls trying to dance during feasts- there is only one of me. Though given what I have learned of illusion and magic, I could likely drive them mad trying to find the real me in a crowd of replicas."

Loki raised an eyebrow, "And you haven't tried it already?"

Amundr laughed, "Oh, Father, I have had little chance to! Mother forbids it saying that we do not need any more half-crazed young women wandering the palace searching for me. I have to deal with strange enough behaviour from the serving girls as it is!" His face turned a bit more serious as he continued, "I am glad to have you here, Father. I adore the quick-witted banter with the rest of the family but I have waited so many years to hear your voice again and to be able to do the same with you. Mother frequently comments on how like you I am- I have waited centuries to find out just how true this is."

Loki hugged his son, "I held you last when you were so small- when Thanos did not have me writhing in pain and I could think, I often wondered who you had become. The happiness of holding you for the first time was one I often remembered, the joy of that moment so powerful that it could overwhelm the feelings of despair. I am so grateful to get this chance to finally get to know you."

Amundr smiled, "Well we have many years ahead of us. I have a feeling, though, that Mother is about ready to shove us all aside and leap into your arms. I doubt she is able to wait much longer." He winked at Loki and said in a low, knowing voice, "And I hope you're well rested after a year in Hela's hall- I somehow think Mother has very little sleep in her plans for tonight."

Brynja smacked her son's arm as she passed, "What I have in my plans is none of your damn business, kid."

Hela bowed briefly to Thor, "My work here is done. I must return to my halls, but I will write. There is much life ahead of us all and I hope to be a part of this family as much as I can be."

Loki turned to Hela, "I hope you visit, my daughter. I owe you so much." He took her bony hands in his and kissed her cheek.

Thor approached Hela to invite her to dinner whenever she happened to get the chance, emphasising that they met every evening as a family to share stories and mealtimes. Of course, he noted, that some evenings there were members of the family otherwise engaged, but on the last day of the week they always gathered, travelling from whatever realm they called home, and took dinner together.

Brynja only sort of heard what Thor was saying as she stood close to Loki, "May I take your hands?"

Loki wove his fingers between hers and then wrapped her arms around his waist, "Yes. You don't have to ask permission, my love. Hela is right- in all my memories, it was the love that stood out. I can understand why the souls she takes in cling to those memories and that feeling is the one that lingers."

She touched his face, running her fingers through is hair, "And what Thanos did to you?"

He draped his arms around her, "I cannot forget it, but we are long-lived. If memories of love can carry me through it, I am sure the years of gentleness and care ahead can once again bring me home."

"Shall we retreat to our chambers? I have so much I want to say, but I don't want to say it while there are other ears around."

Odin overheard her, "Go, my children. We all will have much more time together to catch up and share news of the realm. You two need time together alone."

Loki bowed his head, "Thank you, Father."

Odin smiled, Loki had not called him father since his imprisonment Asgard's dungeon, "You are welcome, my son. Now go, spend time with your beloved."

Brynja took his hand and they retreated through the palace to the seclusion of the rooms Loki had once called home. He stood in the doorway and looked around the room, noting how little had changed.

Brynja sat down on the edge of the bed, "Come sit with me." He did as she asked and she placed his arm on her back, leaning her head on his shoulder, "I've missed you so much. I wore black for four hundred years, only breaking the tradition when Thor told me that I was wearing colour to his wedding. I never stopped mourning you, though, but our children used that gown as an encouragement for me to wear other things that you had liked- for the week of feasting following the wedding I wore the lavender gown I saw you released from Father's prison in and the white dress I wore when I begged for your life before his throne. I wore a dark blue gown that reminded me of Jotunheim, its hems trimmed in crystals that made me think of ice. I wore the Midgardian green satin dress that I last wore for my Starlet. I found joy in colours again, knowing that you would be happy if I was happy. The children- all of them- encouraged me to continue this and got the rest of the family involved, too, pointing out garments that they thought I would like, bringing me back things from their travels."

Loki kissed her cheek, "I know- Sunny was able to occasionally send me images of life here as well as messages. I saw you at Thor's wedding. You were beautiful, Brynja. Radiant. She sent me a few seconds of you dancing with Amundr. I replayed that image in my mind for years, waiting for her to show me other moments. I wish I had not missed it, that it had been me on your arm. I wish I had not missed Katja's wedding, the birth of Sunny's children, or all the years of Amundr's childhood. But I did. I cannot change that. I had a debt to pay."

"Can we just live quietly from here on out? No more exiles, no more schemes for realm domination, no more bargains for power, no crazy ex-lovers...just quietly, like we managed to do for a few decades? Its like we're living in that Midgardian television show with the guy who keeps having a series of really bad days where he's roped into some secret agency again and again. You'd think he'd just change his name and tell them to bugger off, but nope, just keeps happening, disaster after disaster. Just when we think things are going to be normal, it's one more bad day...or week...or half a millennia."

Loki cupped Brynja's face in his hands, "Beloved, I would love to live quietly. I would love to learn to play again, to dance close to you, to laugh with our children and grandchildren." He whispered, his lips close to hers, "I want to fall so deeply in love with you again that I cannot think straight when I feel your skin against mine or nuzzle against your hair, your scent intoxicating. I have lived only on memories of these things for five hundred years..." He kissed her passionately. Brynja placed her hands on his shoulders and pressed him down onto the bed, his hands moving from her face down her body to her hips where they rested a moment before they sought out the bare skin of her back under her shirt.

Brynja giggled, his hands brushing a ticklish spot, "Loki, how do I get this robe off you? I want you naked."

He turned over, toppling her off him, and untied the string at his waist, "It's quite simple, really- there's only one piece to it."

"Well then strip, love. I've been celibate for way too long."

He slipped naked under the blankets, "As have I...and while Thanos broke my body in so many ways, I am certain that he did not break that function. There are certain lines that even a...whatever he is...will not cross." His eyes glimmered with a familiar mischief, "Now you're the one wearing too much, my darling..."

Brynja stripped off her shirt slowly, "That's something I can easily change." She teased him as she undressed, watching his eyes as they took in her bare skin. She slid beneath the blankets with him and he pulled her tight against his body.

"I have missed this beyond what words can say."

She kissed him, "I hope you missed more than just our incredibly fabulous sex life."

Loki brushed his lips along her neck, "Of course, my love, I miss everything about you- and I would name each thing as I kissed your entire body if I had thought I had the patience for it. I would talk about how I missed how you listen so carefully as I nibbled your ears, how I missed your voice as I kissed your neck, how I missed your touch as I-"

Brynja interrupted, "For shit's sake, Loki, just do it and seduce me already, you're such a tease!" She started laughing and he joined her, the first all-encompassing laughter he had felt in so many centuries rising to his throat.

He did not get halfway through his list before Brynja interrupted him again, this time with passionate kisses and wandering hands. They did not leave the bed until late the next morning, both exhausted, Amundr's prediction of very little sleep having been spot-on.

As they lay in the late morning sunlight, their blankets twisted, bodies tangled, Brynja traced her fingers along the scars on his chest, many old, many new, and sighed contentedly. She had him back, his debts paid, his ledger cleared. He would not be leaving her again. She felt him shift against her as he tried to free the arm she had pinned under her side and after letting him settle, kissed him and thanked him for the night. He smiled and cuddled against her. Brynja stroked his hair, not quite as thick as it had once been, and remembered the worship in his green eyes as they had made love. She felt the warmth of the sunlight, the warmth of his breathing, and she knew that no matter how much he had changed, no matter how battered his body was, no matter what form he took, he would always be beautiful to her.


End file.
